POV: Lyra
I narrowed my eyes at Zeke. "We've been through this, Zeke. Tate changed himself, and..."
"No, he didn't." Toby uttered with a taunting smirk at his Commander.
I threw Toby a glare before going back to Zeke. "He did. And let's get one thing straight. For Orion... I didn't... 'make' him kneel to me."
When we heard metal slamming onto the floor, our sights returned to the next room. Chief Dalloway slammed the rogue's chair upright again and the three men resumed their seats.
The rogue coughed a few more times before answering Orion's earlier question. "N-No. My instructions were to eliminate the Kaelari. The one with the rainbow skin shifts. We were not told she was the Empress."
Toby scoffed and commented mercilessly, "Some Tacticians they have."
"Didn't even do their research right." Sylvia agreed.
I wasn't sure if I agreed. At the time of the attack, I wasn't exactly welcoming to the idea of being Empress yet. And technically speaking, I wasn't their Empress now. Everyone just called me that. So I said, "Well, they're not exactly wrong. I mean, I'm technically not the Emp..."
"Shush, Lyra." Toby cut me off, then threw me a cheeky smile before offering a small bow and saying, "My apologies. What I meant to say was, 'Shush, my Empress'."
I narrowed my eyes before pushing Toby with just enough force to make him tilt sideways as he chuckled. Tate allowed himself a brief look at me before returning his sights to the next room.
Orion continued, "Why her?"
"We were not told that either. We're never told why we target a certain... target. Only the boss would know these reasons. Not even the Tacticians would know. As fighters, we're just told who we're after, how we're to attack, when and where the attack should take place."
"Why that station?"
"Their defenses are weak. We were to attack to draw out the target."
Juan exclaimed in anger, "You were instructed to kill station members until my sister showed up to defend them?!" Even those of us in the observation room were agitated. Zelena stood from her chair, inching nearer to the glass, simmering in fury. Tate's hands clenched into tight fists. Toby, Raden, and Sylvia stiffened in controlled anger.
The rogue's lips were sealed until Orion growled, "Answer him."
"Yes."
Low growls emitted in the watching room, and I said cautiously with evident worry, "Guys, we're good. He's suppressed. Everyone is safe. Let's all just calm down." Everyone watched their smallest member and threw each other cheeky smirks again before Juan's shouting caught their attention.
"How did you know she would be there?! Anyone could have gone there to fight off the rogues instead!"
"Answer." Orion commanded.
"B-Because the research was done. She showed up whenever weak stations needed help. We were assured she would be there. If she weren't, we were told to kill until she came."
No one could deny this. Whenever Blue Crescent had to pick which ally to help during simultaneous Rogue attacks, I always got Juan to let me and my specialists go to the most vulnerable station first. We would then ask other equally strong stations to assist the other allies under attack.
Juan continued pressing, "And if she didn't show up when the whole station is eliminated?"
The rogue's tired and angry eyes met Juan's. "We would attack the next most vulnerable station."
"Sick void-spawn [bastards]!" I hissed softly. My eyes began glistening with anger and guilt as I imagined the number of lives that would've been lost if I'd shown up later. It meant that... those eleven specialists died because of me, because they were trying to draw me out.
Tate seemed to have read my mind when he said in a low voice, "Lyra, the station's casualties are not your fault. You shouldn't be blaming yourself. You saved the rest of them. We all did. Their Beta himself told you the station owes you. This is the rogue's fault, Lyra, not yours. Don't think otherwise, okay?"
I took in his words before nodding meekly and throwing him a grateful smile. "Thanks, Tate." He offered me a small smile in return.
The rogue scoffed arrogantly all of a sudden, then made a remark on his own. "Such a small-sized thing even for her kind. The Kaelari's life was hardly worth saving."
The three of them growled in unison. Orion growled a second time before breaking the rogue's nose, left ear, and fracturing his chin before shouting, "HOW DARE YOU SPEAK ABOUT OUR EMPRESS IN THAT MANNER?! IF SHE DIDN'T ASK ME TO SPARE YOUR LIFE, YOU'D JOIN YOUR FRIENDS IN THE VOID RIGHT NOW!"
The rogue smirked. "Spare my life? She left me here to be tortured. I've shown her mercy by killing her."
It was Orion's turn to smirk. "Now, who told you she isn't still alive and well?"
The rogue registered Orion's arrogant declaration, and his eyes suddenly filled with horror as he muttered under his breath, "That's not possible. It was plasma-infused. He's bluffing. You're bluffing!"
"Is he?" Christian challenged. The rogue looked at the three men. It didn't look like they were hiding anything.
He continued to mutter in disbelief. "Impossible. The amount of plasma was lethal." He then challenged the three men weakly, "She didn't survive. No Kaelari would've. You're just making me think I've failed so I'll reveal information!"
Orion scoffed darkly before locking his murderous black eyes with the rogue's doubtful ones as he asked rhetorically, "Do you think you would be sitting here with just bruises and fractures if you had... killed MY match?" The word 'killed' was visibly hard for Orion to say. "You're only able to remain in one unbroken piece now because she survived. Pretty sure your boss isn't too happy about that. Your credentials must be tainted as well, so I don't see why you should have to leave us. Now, here's what I want you to do."
Everyone sat upright as we waited for what Orion would say next. The Emperor radiated his neural compulsion once more as he compelled, "I want your designation and every alias you've used. I want the names of everyone you know in Wu Bi Corp. I want you to tell Chief Dalloway here about your history in this line of business. I want addresses, contact information, hide-outs, meet-up points, and any location you've used to receive your instructions. I want every transaction made to and from you on record. Do you understand me?"
The rogue was already drenched in sweat from being slammed, punched, strangled, and neurally forced against his will. He only managed to stay silent for two seconds before gritting his teeth and muttering a reluctant, "Yes, my Emperor."
"Would you hurt our Empress again?"
The rogue gritted his teeth. "N-No."
"Would you try to kill her again?"
"N-No."
"What should you do if you are in the Empress's presence?"
Orion was really not playing fair now. He was basically forcing the rogue to spit out whatever Orion himself wanted to hear using the Emperor's Neural Compulsion.