YEAR 2404 The blow sent her collapsing down onto her knees. Blood oozed from her mouth into her shaky hands, they raised up to catch the thick liquid as if she were afraid to stain the floor. This was an interrogation room; Dark and cold with only one dangling, buzzing light in the center. "Omar was like my BROTHER!!!" The colossal, gorillian apex roared, poised over the disheveled woman he'd stuck as if he could lash out again at any moment. There was pain in his eyes. Hatred. "You didn't-" He swallowed hard as he grimaced, wiping the sweat from his face with a massive hand. "You didn't deserve what he gave you!" "I didn't know!" She bellowed back in fear, hunched over on her knees with her arms raised as if waiting to deflect a potential blow. She was bigger than most women. Uglier too, though that may have been due to her swelling, bleeding eye. Her muscles were toned and large, though not freakishly so. "He kept it a secret! He told me NOTHING!" She cried out desperately. "You were his WIFE! How COULD you not know??" He shouted down at her before descending on her, raining a few heavy handed blows on the woman until she was laid out on the floor, she remaining as still and quiet as she could. There was a moment of silence. How? She thought on his question. How not?... General Omar had come from another sector to oversee military operations in her colony when they'd first met. She was a young adult then. Bruises and cuts accompanied her from her occasional skirmishes with the local swaggerers, from her engineering and from the fact that she had always been a bit accident prone. There had been many pretty, young women in the apartments and barracks yet for whatever reason, General Omars attention was caught by her of all people. He must have been attracted to bigger, muscular women, she decided. He was more than double her age and well over double her weight. She remembered how he would show her pictures from his early adulthood, as if to try and pique her interest as he'd been immensely strong and handsome. Though now, some 20 or so standards years later, most of that muscle had softened and he'd likely packed on 100lbs of fat. But... what choice did she have? He was a MiniKnog General and she was only some entry level engineer. She would have to leave her colony. She would end up his fourth wife. Quickly after, she would find distractions and activities to avoid interacting with him, as would he but for those occasional nights when he'd force her into his company. She did not ask him questions of how he was or where he'd spent all his time. Most evenings he'd have arrived late, fallen asleep drunk or exhausted in the parlor with the MiniKnog monitors flashing, they playing the same propoganda radio and music. She would clean up whatever mess he'd left for her and go to sleep only after he had. This was the routine for some three standard years, so the night that he'd layed in that parlor his last time... How could she know? "He was one of Big Apes best and most loyal!" The colossal, black apex yelled, grabbing a fist full of her hair and dragging her to the wall, she kicking at the ground to try and gain some footing. "Then he married you!" He lifted her up off the floor, she crying out in pain as she was slammed against the wall. "You cold bitch! He loved you! He actually cared about you and you wanted nothing to do with him!" He growled his words at her through gritting teeth, eyes glazed with tears as his fist cocked back as if he could deliver another blow. They stood like that for a short moment, the woman with her back to the wall eyeing him with shock. "No..." He simply said, his expression dissolving into despair, his arms and shoulders slumping and his head hanging. "No, you're Big Apes. Not mine..." There was a long silence. The large male only stood there, pensive as she looked on, eyes still upon him as if expecting more violence. The silence was broken when the thick, steel door to the interrogation room swung open. The two occupants looked to the newcomer, sheilding their eyes from the blinding light that poured in. "Admiral Haggan." A smooth, masculine voice came from the newcomer, clad in the uniform of a general. He seemed quite thin and short, though little else could be made out of his silhouette. "Oh, dear no, Haggan." The voice rolled out patronizingly as he looked upon the woman who had slumped down to the floor, seeming much to weak to stand. "You did not think it a good idea to lay hands on Omars widow, did you?" He extended a hand out toward the woman, as if expecting the giant male, apparently names Haggan to look upon her. "Just look at the poor thing. Elanha, darling. Stand up." She did so hesitantly, back against the wall. "General..." Haggan straightened up, assuming a more formal posture. "Omars investigation is still taking place. This woman kno-" The General raised a hand up, as if to silence him. "Say no more, Admiral." The General commanded flattly, eyes upon the woman. "Leave me with her and don't speak of what you did here." He sighed. "How shameful." "I-" Haggan stopped himself, pausing before grabbing his cap from the table, placing it on his big, sweaty head. "Glory to Big Ape." He finally stated, eyeing the general as if expecting him to say something more. He did not, only staring stone faced at the woman still. Admiral Haggan took his leave, shutting the steel door behind him. "Oh, dear." The General approached her, tutting as he lifted a hand to take hold of her face, turning it this way and that, inspecting her like she were some piece of broken machinery. He must have been a good half foot shorter than she, his fur grey and face wrinkled with age. He was highly decorated and engraved into the brass nametag on his chest was the name 'JOY'. Her fathers General, she remembered..."No, this won't do. This won't do at all." He said quietly, seemingly to himself. "Elahna, sweetling?" His voice picked up a commanding tone. "I know the work you've been involved in." "Omars condition was-" He cut her off. "I'm not concerned about General Omar!" His voice rose a bit, impatient as he stepped away from her, giving her space as he pulled a cigarette out from his pocket, placing it between his lips and lighting it. He took a drag, holding in the smoke for a prolonged moment before slowly breathing it out. "It's your engineering I'm addressing." His voice was brought back down to its cool, smooth level. "You designed the plamsa turrets for Admiral Macons fleet, I understand. He won't shut up about them." "I played a part in designing them, yes." She made her voice as strong and formal as she could despite how shaky it way. "Based on my fathers designs." "Mhm." He nodded, taking another puff of his cigarette. "Your father is quite the asset. You and he would make an excellent team, I dare say. How would you like to come back to the Xeros sector, hmm?" He posed the question though she knew there was only one answer. Despite the ordeal she'd gone through, she couldn't help but feel a rush of elation, keeping her face as formal and unreadable as she could. "That would be a great honor, General." She said flatly like she were standing in rank. "Great!" General Joy exclaimed, giving a forced smile and a hard pat on Elanhas shoulder. "Take yourself to the medical ward and gather your possesions. We're leaving at the start of the next standard day." He said as he crushed the remains of his cigarette under his heel, saying nothing more as he turned to go. He stepped through the door, leaving her alone in the interrogation room as she sheilded her eyes again from the blinding light coming through the door. Oh Ape... she thought. After three long years of living in this strange sector, married to this man she had no interest in, she'd finally see her father again. ((MEEEEH. Random story I put together from Panzers past. Feel free to comment on this if you'd like.))
