This fic is set in the same continuity as my other Starcraft fic, but it can be read separately from it. Maybe even separately from the entire Starcraft franchise.
Disclaimer: I own nothing you may recognize.
Warning, some violence and cursing are inside.
The final smile.
November 17, 2271. Six months after the colonists' departure.
A man in white was walking through darkened corridors. He looked about forty, but this was just due to all the surgery he had. And therapy of other kinds. Actually, he was about eighty years old. For the last forty years, he had a single job.
The ruler of Earth.
A single title.
Master.
A single mission.
Destroying the impure.
At the end of the corridor, five guards stood in front of a locked door. The one in charge stepped forward;
"Your ID please."
Their orders were clear. No one enters without proper identification. No one.
The man smiled. The guards were trained well.
Beyond the door, There was a room. Twenty meters across. Most of it was taken by different devices, but in the middle, there was a man.
A man hanging by his wrists.
The man was obviously dangerous. Not just because of the way he was guarded. The helmet on his head was only put on one type of prisoners.
Psionics.
The psionic power of the humanity was just developing, hampered further by the killings of the talented, but this one was powerful. If not for the helmet, anyone entering this room would have emerged converted… or not at all.
Unfortunately for him, there was a helmet.
The old guy smiled. A big fish was in his grasp.
"Salvador?" he approached him. The man remained silent. "Salvador Argent". The old man raked his memory. It took them over a month to find out his real name.
"Daniel Oren!"
The man slowly opened his eyes. Brown orbs met blue;
"No need to shout Pete. I have perfect hearing".
The old man slapped him across the face;
"It's Master. Or Master Nariskler! How many times do I have to tell you?" For a moment, his face displayed his true nature… the murderer of millions.
"Until one of us dies." Dan did his best to shrug. "I hope it will be soon, this place is boring."
"Really? I thought my men kept you quite… entertained." Peter smiled at the scars on the man's body. Burns, slashes, jagged wounds… the hi tech failed, but the old fashioned methods may work yet.
"No creativity. You did your best to breed it out of them. Not a single man out of Resistance who could…"
"Shut up!" Peter Nariskler was livid. "Don't insult my mission. I will be rid of all your kind yet. The human race shall remain pure. It will remain in God's image…"
The old man could rave for hours about this. Frankly, Oren would rather be tortured;
"And what about the ultraviolet sight modifications, the strength enhancements, the speed? How do they disrupt God's image?" He knew it was one thing capable of putting the old guy in a frenzy. The only thing making his imprisonment worthwhile.
"The man was created without them!" Pete was purple now. "Don't you see that?"
"I see that the god has all those capabilities. He gets everywhere, sees everything, can do anything. Such modifications, then, make a man more in God's image, don't they?"
Instead of answering, the old bastard grabbed a NeuRod from a nearby table, and jabbed it into Dan's gut.
The man didn't scream. Instead, he laughed.
"Got no arguments against that, right Pete?" He said. "No logic guiding your actions. Merely blind fury – and fanaticism."
"I have a mission to fulfill. All the creatures contaminating the humanity must be purged. And you are searching for loopholes." The man had an insane gleam in his eyes.
"What can I say?" Dan returned a cold, calculating look "My people were specialists in looking for loopholes well over two millennia ago. And it served them well. They will survive, when you, and everyone following you is but a memory. An anecdote. A dark chapter in the history, about a man who murdered… What is it? 400 millions? No, that's from direct elimination. And there were also power failures, floods, sudden disease outbreaks. A lot can be written off to accidents on an overpopulated world. A billion and 130 million, that's the figure, right?"
The old murderer turned up the power. His opponent still didn't scream;
"Yes, the figure. Right from the documents." Suddenly, he shouted. "Where are they?!"
"Don't you know? I passed them to others."
"Who?! Give me names."
The psionic snarled; "Oh, I can give you names all right. How about giving you the name Bastd, or Son of the Bih, or…"
This time, the power setting actually drove Oren silent.
"Is that all you've got?" Nariskler obviously didn't like being insulted.
"Of course not" Oren managed to smile through the pain. "I have some knowledge in languages. What would you prefer, Greek, Japanese, Russian, Latin, Hebrew? They all got their share of names for you, inadequate as they are. "
This time, the UPL leader jabbed the NeuRod right into Dan's groin. That finally made him scream. But neither names, nor locations were given. Oren screamed, yet laughed, until he passed out.
Peter Nariskler closed the door behind him. Two scientists was waiting for him;
"Well?"
"I am afraid there is no success yet, Sir." One of them said. "Some surgery was made to his brain, so that we can't read it, can't affect it directly, and can't even lobotomize him. I am sorry, but it will take at least two years, unless we somehow get the surgery data." He paused "From what I know about him, it is likely he did it on his own, and covered the tracks. I doubt any of the data exists outside his brain."
The other one continued "We took the measure of his psionic power, and from what we can tell, there are no blocks upon it, and since he is an adult, we can't put any. The sheer power of his permanent shields is such, that no psionic we have, no group of psionics, can actually enter his mind, and then get out alive with the data. Restricting him to inside his body is all we can do."
"Then our plans remain the same." Pete brushed a speck from his clothes "Torture."
"I think he took some measures against that, too. We managed to regenerate his pain receptors, but it seems he has a different perception, and it goes deeper than we see."
"Then use visible torture. Mutilation. How long well he stand us cutting him apart and showing him pieces of his own body?"
"But Master, that can repel even some of your friends. It will be bad for your narrow circle prestige."
"Damn the prestige! If people will learn about the data contained in the stolen documents, I will lose all support. Anti eugenical laws will be cancelled. Humanity will be contaminated. We, the Neopuritans, will not be able to complete what we started. Cut him to ribbons, fifty times over if need be, but get – the - data - out - of - him!"
"That brings us to another matter he discovered." The psionics researcher said. "Over the months which passed from the day he got here, the tissue samples taken from him, show psionic emanations unlike anything we have ever seen. It appears, that in his body, he is still the master. And we have no idea what he is doing with it"
"Whatever he is doing, it will remain inside him. Now, get to work."
January 11 2272.
Once again, Nariskler was standing in front of his nemesis. The latter just finished a regeneration session, which left him quite human in appearance. Three such were required by now, and with the limited results, the Master decided on a new approach;
"Oren, Oren, why are you doing this" The old guy's voice was a nice, grandfatherly now. "We didn't harm the jews in any way. It's none of your business. Just tell us the names, and you will be let go. Your family will be left in peace. Don't you trust me?"
Oren laughed. Nariskler may have deceived the humanity, but Dan saw right through anyone.
"My family is safe, we both know that. Nor would I tell you anything, even if they were hanging right here from shackles. I know better than to trust you." He paused. "As for the jews, some of us have learned better over the centuries than waiting for our turn. We have underground work traditions, you know."
"I know. Do you know how many died because of their – underground traditions? Did you hear about Linda Cren, or Samaren Gladman. They died, when your Resistance blasted a transport line leading to a 'euthanasia camp'. They claim to be fighting for life, yet they kill…"
Oren laughed again. This was a mocking, harsh laugh;
"Did you ever hear about Michael Rupert? Or Garth Watson? Or about any others of the seventy five million what you call pure humans, and who died because of your so called 'indirect methods'? Don't teach me about killing. Don't teach me about trust. And don't teach me about data extraction. Trust me, the helmet keeps me in my head, but does not keep you out."
"Besides, how many people did that attack save? I would estimate around fifty thousand. Only two civilian casualties, otherwise you would have named the others. Regrettable, I agree. But as far as I can tell, over the last forty years, you didn't once even pray for the souls of your 'Regrettable mistakes'. Why is that, Neopuritan?"
Maybe a normal man would have been touched by Oren's speech. But the Master's mind was long since rusted beyond moving. He went red, then simply turned, and stormed out of the room. But not before giving the order to continue.
Screams soon filled the room. Yet Daniel Oren managed to keep smiling.
"What do the tests show about the energy readings?" Asked Nariskler once outside.
The scientist he addressed was apparently nervous;
"Nothing. The pieces we remove from his body seem to release most of the energy back into it, and the emanations are unclear. We believe he either wants to pass some signal outside, or gather enough energy to escape. Of course, both attempts are completely futile."
"Yes." Smirked Peter "He will learn that no one escapes the Fortress."
March 11 2272.
This time, it was a different chamber. At least three times the size. Oren was healed to a presentable condition, and now sitting, with five guards surrounding him. Guests were expected. A new development was to be discussed.
One by one, they filed in. Callias Farleigh, Minister of Defense. Lady Cord Langard, Minister of security. The Minister of Justice, Thomas Cupir… In short, all the fanatics in the UPL Cabinet. The last to enter, was the Master himself. Settling himself in a chair in front of them, he started.
"All of you know, except perhaps our former Vice Minister of science, that twenty hours ago we received an untraceable transmission, with an ultimatum from the Resistance. The details are simple. Allow the abominations to leave for other planets, upon ships checked by them personally, cease the Purge, and release Oren if still alive. Otherwise, the database stolen by our former Vice Minister will be released into public. Frankly, I have no intention to fulfill any of the demands."
"What?!"
That was the collective gasp of the entire collective. Well, Oren was silent.
"The ultimatum will be ignored. They won't risk a civil war, right Dan?"
Oren replied quickly;
"They will. A civil war is inevitable unless the population is shipped off. A war now, is likely to be the least bloody, with your current weakness. Of course, they will prefer no war at all."
"And you are not going to give any information concerning your bases?"
"That's right. Nor would it do you much good, we're scattered throughout the Solar System. So are the copies of the Database."
"I say," Went the Minister of Security, "that we better give in to the terms. Earth would be clean of the vermin at least, and we shall have reasonable population."
"No!" Yelled Nariskler. "I am in charge here, and I say that not Earth, but the universe must be purged."
"But…"
"Guards." Quietly said the Master.
One of Oren's guard turned to Cord, and shot her. The woman dropped, surprise clear in her eyes.
"Any other objections?" There were none. "Good. Now, we get to the final matter. The fate of Daniel Oren, formerly known as Salvador Argent. Ten months ago, due to his mistake, we managed to discover him being a Resistance member. Unfortunately, in all the time he was here, despite all the interrogation, he gave no information."
"Actually," Said Daniel, smiling, "I made no mistake. I merely needed to distract you for a few months, so I gave you a false lead. You interrogated me, forgetting all about tracking the members of the Resistance. You became single minded, obsessed. And the resistance acted."
Peter was positively fuming;
"So, are you ready to die then, Oren? Because today, you shall."
Oren was unfazed by the statement. He simply looked around;
"I thought everyone would like to see the execution. Where is Chancellor Blank?"
"He is too weak. He decided to remain behind. I shall have him removed soon, too soft."
"You are getting clearly senile, Pete" The latter turned red at the nickname. "Once you remove the people who dare to have their own opinion, you fall. As far as I can tell, there were only two in your government. You just ordered to kill one of them, the other will follow." Oren shook his head. "You are pitiful."
Peter Nariskler snarled;
"Any final words, smartass?"
"May I have time for a last prayer?"
"Of course."
Silent, yet dedicated, Oren started the last prayer of his life. The last words of so many jews.
"Shema Yisrael…"
For a minute, he silently prayed. Finally, he looked upon all present;
"There is no reasoning with you, as far as I understand. The ultimatum will be rejected."
"That's right." the Master's smile was almost childish. "And nothing can stop us."
"Not exactly." For once, Dan's face was sad. "The ultimatum will be accepted, if not one of you will leave this room."
This time, Peter laughed aloud;
"And how exactly can that be accomplished? Your power is locked inside your skull. You can't harm us!"
Oren gave him a sad smile;
"You never did find out what were the energy emanations of my body meant, did you?"
"We assumed they were meant for communication, or disruption of your helmet's circuitry. Futile, both of them."
"Well, both assumptions were wrong. The emanations are not from something fancy. They are from stored energy, plain and simple."
For a moment, the face of Earth's ruler was confused. But suddenly, it turned into fear.
Before he could compose himself to give an order to the guards, Oren executed his final plan.
"Ekhad." He said with a resolute look.
All the energy he stored over the course of the last ten months was released in a split second.
Inside the UPL headquarters.
Chancellor Blank, the effective head of the UPL until the rest returned, was sitting in front of a screen, once again reading the text of the ultimatum. It was a reasonable one, at least for him.
Suddenly, there was a flash announcing a top priority transmission. Cursing, he put it through;
"Chancellor, there is an emergency. The entire detention area the Cabinet was visiting, was obliterated by an explosion of unknown origin. All the Cabinet is dead beyond doubt."
"In this case." Blank paused. "I am effectively the senior UPL member alive, and, therefore, the new Master."
"Yes sir, according to the law, you are. Sir, five minutes age, the Resistance has contacted us. They want to know our decision about the ultimatum."
The decision was easy for the new Master.
"Tell them we agree to all terms."
Two thousand kilometers away, deep inside the Fortress, now, an entire section was destroyed by the explosion. A huge cavern was formed, containing all that remained of the Cabinet, the guards, Seventy five UPL scientists – And Daniel Oren. In the centre of this cavern, where the explosion originated, now smoke was swirling. Slowly, it cleared away, leaving not even a memory of what has occurred at this place.
The final wisp of the smoke coiled, stretched, and then, for a moment, in the centre of the chamber, it took a clear, definite form.
Daniel's final smile.