When I was done talking, the government officials sat there and didn't say anything for several moments.

“Please wait outside while we discuss the situation.” The fish woman said.

I stood up and walked outside the auditorium and waited for them to discuss things. I tried to listen; but, there were a hundred conversations going on and it was difficult to pick just one out. When I focused on the fish woman, she was talking in her native tongue and I didn't understand a word she was saying.

It took them half an hour to finally make a decision and they asked me to come back inside. I made a discrete call and left my wrist com open and went back into the room, then sat down in the same chair and waited to hear what their decision would be.

“After some deliberation, it's been decided that you have been harbouring the daughter of a known terrorist. Since family members are always sympathetic to those that were captured, you will turn her over to us for a proper interrogation.”

“No.” I said.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard what I said.”

“You are within our jurisdiction and you will comply with the law.” The fish woman said.

“Actually, I am the Hero of Chofaris.” I said and a murmur went around the auditorium. “What will the people think when I tell them you want to hold a military interrogation on a fourteen year old girl that had been previously kidnapped by the terrorists that you've been holding for two years without a trial?”

“You will not be permitted to make such a statement.” The fish woman said.

“That didn't stop me the last time I made a public announcement.” I said. “I believe that announcement also made it possible for your people to seize political power from your fellow human inhabitants.”

The fish woman's extra eyelids flicked over her large eyes. “Did you just threaten a government official?”

“Did you just threaten to torture a fourteen year old girl for something her mother was only slightly involved in?” I countered.

The fish woman flicked her eyelids again and was quiet for several moments. “I hereby place you under-Hmm!” She stopped talking when I covered her mouth in Presence.

“I don't think so.” I said and stood. “I have not committed a crime and I won't be held against my will. Not by you or anyone else.” I lifted my wrist com to my mouth. “Did you hear all of that, President Olugaell?”

“Yes, I did.” Olugaell said and the fish woman at the table looked surprised for a moment. “Unfortunately, I have to agree with her.”

“What?” I asked, surprised myself.

“All other family members were rounded up and interrogated to find out how deep the sedition was. The young woman you have been hiding is the last one.”

“I have special government approval for...” I started to say.

“That was issued by the old government and no longer applies.” Olugaell said. “I'm sorry, Hunter. I must issue a presidential order for you to hand her over, or you will be arrested.”

“You didn't learn from what happened the last time someone tried to get me?” I asked my wrist com. “Do you really want to do this, Olugaell?”

Olugaell was silent for a moment. “Hunter, you can't possibly...”

“You people are so stupid it's almost funny.” I said without laughing. “I won't be waiting for you to issue that order. I've grew tired of waiting for people to come for me a long time ago. Don't worry. I'll be coming to visit you, just as soon as I take care of a few things here.”

“HUNTER! NO!” Olugaell yelled and I turned off my wrist com.

“You are all going to regret this.” I said and covered the room in Presence and pushed down on them.

“S-s-stop!” One of the officers said and tried to raise a laser pistol and shot at me. It bounced off my personal shield and killed someone off to the side.

“Here, let me do that for you.” I said and used Presence to hold his hand steady and pulled the trigger as I shifted his aim slightly. Each and every shot bounced off my shield and killed someone else in the room that thought about shooting me, too. “Ooo, look at all the random people you're killing!” I joked and expended the charge on the laser pistol. “Hmm. You haven't charged that in a while.” I shook my head at him and then crushed his hand and the laser pistol.

“ARGH!” The man screamed and dropped to the floor in pain.

“N-no... please...” The fish woman said.

I turned back to face her and she held her hands up in surrender. “You missed your chance to be reasonable.” I said. “You could have just said no to my request and left it at that. But no, you decided to be greedy and asked me for something unreasonable.”

The fish woman stared at me with her big fish eyes as I took out my Light sword and activated it.

“If you had just wanted me, I might have allowed you to take me, just so I could find out where you are keeping the terrorists and their families. Unfortunately, you wanted to take Hailey from me and that is never going to happen.”

The fish woman screamed as I plunged my Light sword into her chest and punctured one of her lungs.

“Can fish people be filleted?” I asked and then did two long swipes with my Light sword and cut her from her shoulders all the way down to the edge of her tail. It left her in three pieces and the arms and legs on the fillets twitched and shook. “I guess they can.”

“You... you monster!” A human said from several seats away. The other fish people were too shocked to say anything after seeing one of their people being treated that way.

“Don't tell me you haven't thought about trying it.” I said to the man and I caught the thoughts in his mind as they surfaced. “Oh, I see. Pan fried in oil and lemon juice. That's a good idea.”

The man's face paled and he shook his head several times.

“I bet they taste awful, though.” I said and saw a few people react in the high auditorium seats. “There are some experienced hands here, I see.” I walked over to them and smiled. “Was it wild tasting, fatty, or too tender to gauge?”

“Too tender.” One of them said.

“Oho! An honest person!” I said and used Presence to lift the man and brought him down to the floor beside me and I put an arm over his shoulders, which shocked him and everyone else. “So, where are the terrorists?” I whispered loudly. “It's okay. You can tell me. I won't tell anyone else.”

The man wasn't going to answer me and his thoughts betrayed him and showed me where.

“Not going to speak? What about their families? Are they in the same spot?” I asked and plucked the information from his head that it was the same facility. “Your silence is as admirable as it is pointless.” I said and swiped my Light sword across his neck and decapitated him.

“Stop! We... we'll tell you what you want to know.” One of the government officials said to stall for time. He had already hit the emergency beacon and the place would be stormed in a few moments by one of their best combat squads.

I turned off my Light sword and everyone relaxed as I eased up on the Presence pushing them down. “You know, it's too bad I'm past that point now.” I said and took out a fully decked out laser rifle. “I'm surprised your new regime is so security conscious and no one asked me if I had any weapons on me.” I grinned and opened fire.

*

Olugaell was filled with horror. She sat in her office and watched the security footage as Hunter slaughtered everyone inside the auditorium. She had made an impassioned plea to The Order temple after he had hung up on her and they said that they would send someone to investigate. She only hoped that they arrived before the combat squad.

The doors of the auditorium burst open and the quick response combat squad ran in to subdue Hunter. They were met with several fragmentation grenades and they died before they could scream. To Olugaell's surprise, Hunter made each and every body disappear and then he stood there and waited.

“All right, who is causing a disturbance in here?” An Order member asked as he boldly entered the room as if he owned the place. His partner came in right behind him and was surprised to find the room completely empty, except for a lot of blood splatters and a lone man that stood in the middle.

“The government officials caused it.” Hunter said and walked over to them. “It's okay now. I handled it.”

The two of them looked around the room and then back at him.

“What did you do with the bodies?”

“I'm going to deliver them to the main government building.” Hunter said. “Want to come along? It's going to be a sight to see.”

“Are you insane?” The partner asked.

“No, I'm just annoyed. This wasn't supposed to turn out this way.” Hunter said. “I can't let their immorality and illegality hurt someone I care about, so now I have to do something about it.”

The two Order members were only slightly surprised when the Presence didn't waver.

“I'm afraid you're going to have to come with...” He stopped talking when his head exploded. A laser pistol had appeared in Hunter's hand and he had shot the man in the face.

“I can't allow that. Sorry.” Hunter said and shot the other man too, then stored both bodies. “It looks like my timetable is going to be moving up again.” He said and then disappeared.

Olugaell hit the button on her intercom. “He's coming! Defend me with your lives!”

*

I had to slow down my run as I approached the main government building. The defenses the place had were quite the change from the last time I had visited. I looked inside the building to see Olugaell was inside her office with a squad of people outside it and behind temporary barricades, then another squad was just inside the main hall and were also behind barricades. Three squads of troops were out front of the building and they had two anti-personnel laser assault cannons mounted on either side of the front doors.

I shook my head at the stupidity and ran around the side of the building, tossed one of my old focusing crystals with the circuit board that let it expand into a sphere and activated it, then it consumed a twenty foot wide section of wall. I jumped up to the second floor to see a completely startled Olugaell as she trembled and stared at me. If she had leaned to the left even an inch, she would have been caught in the sphere of energy and would have lost an arm. At least.

“Hi, there. Long time no see.” I said and walked over to prop my hip against her half-collapsed desk. “I told you I wasn't going to wait for your order to have me arrested.”

“You... committed treason.”

I chuckled. “I'm not a citizen. All I could possibly do is incite the locals into rebellion. I never did that, nor will I.” I gave her a look that said she better tell me the truth. “Where are Uzahne and Ahaen?”

Olugaell wasn't sure how to respond without getting herself into trouble or making me angry.

“You don't have to worry about that anymore.” I said as I got the image of them in prison on trumped up charges.

“Don't kill me!” Olugaell exclaimed loudly and the door to her office burst open.

“FREEZ-HURK!” The man choked as I crushed his windpipe with a Presence Hand, then I did the other people of the squad as well.

“Stupid.” I said. “When you have an insurgent, you shoot first and then ask questions.”

“Hunter, please. Don't do this.” Olugaell pleaded.

“You did this.” I said and started to take out all the bodies. I bound her arms and legs in Presence so she couldn't run and I filled the room. The last body I took out was the fish woman. All three parts of her. Surprisingly, she was still twitching. “Your people are pretty resilient.” I said and picked up the middle part and held her head, then used her mouth like a puppet.

“Hand over your future wife so we can torture her!” I had the puppet say in a squeaky voice.

“Screw you, fish lips.” I said and tossed the thing onto the pile.

“Oh Great Goddess of the Sea!” Olugaell exclaimed. “Save me from...”

I covered her mouth in Presence. “Hey, we can't have anyone unexpected show up.” I said and quickly set several of the assassin explosives around the building. “What do you think people will say when the main government building is destroyed just like the building that almost killed me?”

Olugaell let several tears flow from her eyes.

“Don't worry, you're going to die a martyr for your cause.” I said and pat her shoulder. “I'll make sure there are some people alive that see it.” I took out one more building destroying charge and put it on her lap. “Here, hold this tightly or it might go off.” I said and absorbed her arm bindings.

Olugaell gripped it tightly in the hopes that it wouldn't go off.

“Okay, now I'm leaving to rescue the people you're holding without a trial.” I said and leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek. “Goodbye.”

Olugaell blinked and I absorbed the bindings on her legs and mouth and then I disappeared from her sight. She finished asking her goddess for help and Presence filled the room, then she didn't see or feel anything else as all the charges detonated.

There was a loud and oddly gurgled scream as the building was erased from existence in a blinding explosion that rocked the surroundings and the new Presence disappeared. The three squads out front were blown off their feet and had no idea what had just happened, then they recovered and thought about trying to rescue anyone that might still be alive inside. When they turned to look at the destruction, they saw that the building was completely gone and knew it was pointless to try.

I ran back to where I had parked the shuttle and flew it over to the spot that I had seen in the military officer's head. I didn't bother trying to fight my way in and just put the guards to sleep as I flew over the gate. I landed beside the holding facility and knocked out the guards there, then I secured the shuttle closed with Presence and went inside the building as I kept putting the guards I encountered to sleep.

It wasn't really their fault for following orders, so I didn't really want to kill them all unnecessarily. I was in full Stealth mode as well, so no one saw me as I went right to the main office and put the workers there to sleep as well. I checked the computer and saw what room Hailey's mother was being held in, then I went to the main power generator and set an explosive charge on it, because I was going to need a distraction to escape.

I followed the directions and found the right room and knocked on the door. “Hello, in there. Are you decent?”

“Wh-what? Excuse me?” Hailey's mother asked, confused.

I used a Presence Hand to crush the door handle and the electronic lock at the same time, then I let my Stealth fade as I opened the door. “Hi.”

“Hunter?!?” Hailey's mother exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

“Causing havoc.” I said and waved at the door. “Do you want to stand here and discuss it or should we go and see your daughter?”

“LET'S GO!” Hailey's mother yelled and ran past me and out the door.

I laughed and detonated the charge on the power generator and followed her. The place shook a little and then all of the lights went out and the electronic locks on all of the doors clicked open. Battery power kicked in and only a few lights came on, so I took Hailey's mother's hand and led her in the right direction. Almost as one, all of the cells opened and every single prisoner was out and in the hallway. A riot started almost immediately.

“Why are you doing this?” Hailey's mother asked as I weaved her through the many obstacles, both the prisoners and the debris they were trying to light on fire.

“I came here to let you see your daughter for her birthday and they tried to get me to hand Hailey over to them for interrogation.”

“NO!” She yelled. “You didn't!”

“Of course not.” I said. “I killed them all, then I killed the president and the rest of the government when I blew up the main government building.”

The riot stopped like I had thrown a switch and everyone looked at me.

“Wh-what did you say?” Hailey's mother asked, shocked.

“I blew up the government building. Boom. Flash of light. Gone.” I said and held the door for her. “After you.”

She gave me a look like she didn't believe me.

“I'll be flying by there to go to the prison, so you can see it for yourself.” I said and she gave me a nod and she stepped through the open door. I led her out of the building and around the side to where I had the shuttle and we climbed aboard. We were almost immediately surrounded by prisoners a moment later.

“Hey! Take us, too!”

“We want to help!”

“Don't leave us here!”

“Oh, geez.” I said and used Presence to carry my voice. “There's lots of vehicles in the parking lot, you idiots! Take them and go!”

There was a clang as something heavy was thrown at the shuttle and I 'looked' in that direction and saw three familiar faces. Perginia and her two compatriots that had tried to hijack my ship.

“Hello, Perginia.” I said and she caught her breath.

“HUNTER!” Perginia yelled and the two men with her picked up a trash can.

“Why didn't you grab the guard's guns?” I asked as they threw the trash can and I deflected it from hitting the shuttle.

“They're non-lethal.” Perginia said.

“Look, I'll forgive you for trying to hijack my ship, since you served two years in prison, just...”

“Fuck you!” Perginia said loudly. “Break it open! I can fly anything and I'll take all of you out of here!”

“...don't piss me off.” I said and created fifty Presence Hands as the prisoners surrounded the shuttle and started to attack it. I grabbed them by the scruff of their necks and tossed them twenty feet away. Some bounced off the nearby building and were seriously hurt and some landed on their heads and died. Most were fine, however.

“Never mind.” I said and grabbed her and her two men by the necks and snapped them. The last thing she saw before she died of asphyxiation was the shuttle taking off and flying away.