For people who are reading my other Destiny story, please do not take this as a sign that I'm giving up on it. I decided that my brain would work best if it's got some more stuff to think about. Weird but true.
Corin sat in the captain's quarters of his ship, trying to drown out the incessant struggling of his prisoner as they cruised past Venus.
Wrinkles under his eyes had already formed years ago, despite his young age and seemingly carefree behavior. His jet black hair was never almost never fixed, and a grin never came easy for him.
Although, no one had ever seen him like that. Besides his gifts as a pirate, he also happened to be a very talented actor. His two strengths worked together nicely, because who'd want to buy from a disingenuous liar?
On the other hand, his mask of the charismatic charmer served him well, allowing him to get away with plenty of things: thievery, cheating, lying, and if need be, murder.
Of course in his current case, he didn't even need to put on the mask; no one really cared if a Fallen baron just disappeared. The only person that actually did care was Corin himself simply because the four-armed bastard was disturbing the silence.
"Would that stupid thing quit pulling on its chains? It's getting a little annoying!"
His navigator walked into the room, and instantly, the feigned smile appeared on Corin's face. "I'm afraid the only way to shut him up would be to sedate him, but the closest place we could get those drugs is two hours away."
He sighed heavily and picked up the revolver on his desk. "I could always just conduct the interrogation now. We don't necessarily need to wait until we get back to the compound to start asking questions."
"Well, we can't do that because we don't have the means to… extract the information from him."
"Is that what we're calling it now, Shawn?" he said through a mischievous grin.
The navigator laughed, like most people did when Corin made an attempt to make them. "Yes, that's what we're calling it now."
"I think I could handle it without our 'extractor,'" he said with an exaggerated tone. "Besides, nothing gets people to talk like a little game." With his revolver in hand, he started for the cells.
The white flood lights that lined the walls of the hallways agitated the corners of his eyes, but the brighter the ship, the harder it was for people to hide things from him. He passed by each room one by one, giving a half-hearted wave to each crew member he passed by.
The trap door leading to the dungeon lied at the end of the hall. But in all honesty, it was hardly a prison. The engine room took up most of the space, leaving barely any room for the torturously small cells. Though some would say that it better served its purpose, preventing its captives from getting too comfortable.
The ladder dropped down into the dungeon as he lifted the door. Hot air blasted out from the new opening, almost making Corin pity the poor soul trapped in his ship.
He lowered himself in, and the smell of burning oil quickly found its way to his nose. The light overcoat that he wore felt like a plastic bag against his skin, forcing him to remove it.
"Ugh, I've got to get used to my own engine room someday." The baron's struggling ceased as he realized that someone had entered the dungeon.
Corin glanced over at his prisoner and smiled. "Enjoying your stay?" He asked in Eliksni.
"You speak in my native tongue… I am surprised, human."
"I found that I lose my intimidation when I have a translator," he replied, pulling up a chair and unlocking the gate to the cell. "Now, I want your information, not your head on a pike, so which one do you prefer."
"I will tell you nothing."
Corin threw his head back in exasperation and readied his pistol. "Okay I guess we'll do it the hard way." He whipped his gun to the side, exposing the six-bullet chamber. "Have you ever been to Old Russia?"
The baron gave no answer.
"Well, they had a game back then called Russian Roulette." His eyes lifted from his gun back to the baron, searching for any reaction. "The rules of the game are, I put one bullet in the chamber and I try and kill you with it," he said as he slid a bullet in, "but I think that one bullet is a little too merciful.
"Now, I'm going to ask you a few quick questions: did you and your crew of rats give the Wolves in the Reef weapons and supplies?"
No answer.
"I was hoping you'd do that." Corin slid another bullet into the chamber. "Is there a supply route going in and out of the Reef?"
No answer. Another bullet.
"Do you plan on speaking at all?"
No answer.
"Eh, I'll count that." Another bullet. "The odds are stacked against you, my friend. I'd suggest talking," he spun the chamber and flicked it back into place, "or I'll give this gun a chance to kill you."
The baron lifted its head with pride and spat in his direction.
"Very well." He pointed the gun at its head, but all that could be heard was the faint hum of the engines and a quiet click.
"Are you kidding me?" Corin stared at gun in disdain, then fired the rest of the shots into the baron's legs. It's cries of agony filled the room, and he took a step closer now holding the knife he kept in his right boot.
He squatted down and rested blade on the kneeling baron's shoulder. "Feel like talking now?"
"I… will not… cower to… a weak, pathetic… human."
"If I recall correctly, your station will be far below mine if I cut off just two of your arms," he replied toying with the knife in his hand. "Imagine how much worse it'll be if I cut off all four of them."
No answer.
"Wow, you are unbelievably stubborn!" He drew back his knife and cut through his left arm as the baron's screams filled the ship for the second time.
"Yup, we just take a route through the southeastern border of the Reef, just below the Prison of Elders," Corin said, setting his crimson coated knife onto his desk.
"Below the Prison of Elders? Are you sure it's not just trying to set you up?"
"I'm not sure if he is, so I sent two of my black eyes to check it out. Shawn, I've got this completely under control."
"But why do we need to trespass into the Queen's territory? We've got a pretty good thing going in Venus and Earth."
Corin found himself studying his crewman's face, as he did to many of the people he talked to, always searching for there true motives and feelings. Shawn seemed to possess not only true concern for himself, but also for his captain, which was almost always the result of Corin's examinations.
"You don't need to worry. If a Fallen skiff managed to make it through multiple times to fund a rebellion, we can do it a few times if our own. I'm sure the Reef is filled with Awoken itching to get their hands on some weapons. Not to many people in the Reef are allowed to have guns, you know?"
The dull blue eyes of his navigator showed his acceptance of defeat, and Shawn left his quarters in a dejected shuffle.
Corin punched a frequency code into his comm link, and his supplier quickly answered.
"Adrian, I hope you got some interesting things for me. I'm taking a little field trip his weekend."
A/N: Make sure to leave a review! I kind of want to get a feel of how this story is doing.