CHAPTER 7

NO GREATER LOVE

Port Krin, Antallos,
Inner Sphere Periphery,
December 20, 3064

The streets of Port Krin were ever busy but being a wretched place of villainy, nobody cared about Saskia's distress. Her assailant didn't make effort to hide his malice. Everybody on the street could easily see the 'thing' – presumably a blade – he pressed under Saskia's chin. But just like inside the restaurant, the street dwellers just threw one look at her, ignored her pleading stare, then went on with their lives. Never before Saskia felt so alone, so abandoned in her life.

So her assailant forced her to walk a few blocks from the restaurant, to a desolated building that looked like a large abandoned warehouse. He led Saskia inside and forced her to walk toward a dark corner. He pushed Saskia to the wall, then stood still a few steps in front of her, waiting for her to regain composure.

It was the first time Saskia had a good look at her assailant. He was tall and dark, with an afro hairstyle that seemed to add an inch to his height. He was wearing a sleeveless drab-green military fatigue that flaunted his well-toned upper body. His moustache joined his neatly-kempt goatee around his mouth. His dark, malicious stare thrust deep into her soul, jarring her nerves. The reflection of light off his blade intensified the macabre atmosphere. Saskia had never seen such weapon, a thick curved about a foot in length.

"Who are you?" Saskia blurted. "What do you expect from me?"

"Your steel dragon," the man stated coldly. "My name is Point… Point Comm…" Somehow he started to stutter, as if he forgot his own name. But he quickly got a hold of himself. "My name is Star Captain Osiris of the Wolf. I claim your steel dragon as Clan Wolf's possession. I bid myself and my blade for this trial. By what force do you wish to defend your possession, freebirth?"

So that was it. Everybody that had seen her zoid suddenly became greedy and wanted to harness its power. Saskia didn't know how this man – Osiris, as he claimed – knew she was the pilot of the Gilvader. She never made contact with anybody on this forsaken world except Trystan Vandenberg, a slave, and Lei Fong, supposedly Trystan's master. Trystan was the only one that saw her with the Gilvader, and he never mentioned it to Lei Fong. So how could Osiris single her out from the crowd of Port Krin with a charge of the possession of the Gilvader?

Saskia started to believe that Osiris was part of something far more sinister than the pirates of Antallos.

"Eyes deceived mind," Saskia tried to find a chance to escape. "My name is Saskia. I am but a citizen of Port Krin, in good company of my husband, taken away by your hand."

"Do not insult me, Freebirth!" Osiris erupted and aimed his blade at Saskia's face. "He is not your coffin mate! He will wake up with neither the recollection of what happened nor the remembrance of you!"

"You mistake me for another woman…"

"No Inner Sphere scum speaks in despicable accent like you! You came from another realm, far beyond the reaches of men, in a steel dragon worthy of a star! Where is that dragon?"

"I know not of any dragon! I am but a street monger. I trade crafts for coins…"

"Nobody trades crafts in a world of pirates!" Osiris stepped closer. "Do you know what a 'Trial of Possession' is, Freebirth? It is a sacred ritual of fighting to decide the belonging of a thing. I have issued a Trial of Possession. I have issued my biddings. You will answer my bid, or I will force you to give me what I want!"

"I do not have said things!" Saskia kept her composure. "You desire fight for hollow possession?"

"Answer my bid, you barbarian surat!" Osiris pinned her to the wall and shoved her blade up her neck.

"I have no possession of note! Please, let me go!"

Osiris looked deep into Saskia's blue eyes, trying to squeeze any hint of treachery. But he only found determination or honesty. He couldn't decide which one. He knew she was not telling the truth. He had seen the communication feed between Saskia and his superior. He knew Saskia had the Gilvader. But her stare and body language was evident enough that she was actually telling the truth. Either Saskia had a short-term memory loss, or Osiris got the wrong woman.

There was only one way to find out.

"I gave you a chance to fight in honor," Osiris grabbed Saskia's shoulder and pushed her to another corner. "You did not take it. Now you can only succumb to ignominy while I pry the information off your insolent mouth!"

Saskia didn't know what Osiris was planning but she knew he would inflict pain. She began to put up resistance but Osiris easily overpowered her. He found a post then pushed her to stand with her back against the post. He pulled her arms behind her back and bound her wrists around the post, immobilizing her in a vulnerable position.

Certain that Saskia wouldn't be able to break free, Osiris scurried to find a small wooden bench, then shoved it between Saskia's legs. He forced her to straddle the bench then strapped Saskia's legs by the knee with duct tape. He put another strap around her shin, securing her legs to the bench. Then he grabbed a few bricks from the floor and slid them underneath her heels, making it an impromptu tiger bench.

Saskia realized what he was doing and her heartbeat doubled in fear.

Osiris walked in circles, instilling terror in Saskia's mind. He held his blade high and cut a slice on his own palm, all the way making sure Saskia saw his blood dripping onto the blade. As he heard her whimper, he smeared his own blood on the blade, covering the entire shiny sides, then rubbed it clean with a piece of cloth he found on the floor, before slamming it home into its scabbard.

"No, I will not use my kukri on you," Osiris shot a devious smile. "A kukri is the signature blade of one of the best infantry units in ancient history, the Gurkha. One should not return a kukri to its holster without drawing blood. But your blood is not worth to graze my kukri. Only the blood of a true warrior can sate my kukri."

Saskia let out a defiant scoff in response.

"The device you are sitting on, however, has no such restriction. It originated from the ancestors of Capellan bastards and is still in use. It had ripped the ligaments of royals, peasants, and criminals for centuries. If you have not had your joint popped out of its socket, I will tell you right now: it is so painful you will bite your tongue off just to ease the pain."

"I have nothing you asked," Saskia said, half whimpering. Osiris' psychological terror started to get in her nerves. "Please, let me go."

"You had your chance," Osiris said as he slid another brick under Saskia's heel. "I will ask you one more time: Where is the steel dragon?"

Saskia started to feel the tension on her hamstring, and it made her nervous. She didn't know what Osiris was capable of, and she was terrified to have to suffer like she never suffered before. She realized that she could easily escape her ordeal by revealing the location of her zoid. She remembered Trystan's words: It's just a machine, how come it's more important than your life? Was her zoid worth the suffering and pain? Saskia wished it was not true.

But what would Gilvy do if the situation were reversed? Would it give her up to escape pain? Absolutely not. That zoid was the most obstinate living being Saskia had ever met, both men and zoids. It would go through anything before it let anybody harm Saskia. No, it was far more than a machine. It deserved everything Saskia had to offer, including pain.

"Set footing on this path and see your quest forever denied," Saskia hissed as she braced herself for the pain to come. "I told you, you mistake me for another woman. I have none of merit. You are but wasting time."

"I know who you are," Osiris sneered as he slid another brick under Saskia's heels. "Perhaps this will jog your memory."

Saskia groaned as her leg joints started to scream for release. Her knees and ankles were forced to bend the opposite way, but the straps held them in place. It felt like her legs were ripped apart in multiple directions. Sweat beaded in her forehead, and tears started to bog down her lids. If Osiris managed to put yet another brick under her heels, she was sure her shins would shatter.

The temptation to give up her zoid grew bigger than ever. But she summoned all energy she could muster. She would not betray the only friend she had in this twisted universe.

"Whatever you seek, I have none," she strained to speak. "I beg mercy. Please, let me go."

Osiris started to doubt his judgment. The tiger bench had been an effective device to gain information from spies and warriors. Saskia looked nothing like one, but the fact that she had not broken under torture convinced Osiris that, as implausible as it seemed, she might be telling the truth. He moved to place another brick under Saskia's heels, but his rectitude began to take over. What if Saskia was indeed a Port Krin citizen without any knowledge of the dragon? He tortured the wrong soul that didn't deserve any of the pain while the real culprit was still at large.

So he switched strategies and removed Saskia's shoes. He was aware of his superior's reputation of a perverted bastard, and he hated to have to step in his path. But he knew of Star Commander Marissa, a vivacious pilot from the rivaling squadron who started off as a bondsman of Star Captain Benten. She was a wild vixen at the beginning, but Benten broke her defiance by inflicting great agony upon her feet. He remembered listening to her screams and cries, nights after nights, but each morning she appeared in full form as if nothing happened. The torture left no damage to her body, only her spirit.

"Oh no, no, no, no…" Saskia's eyes opened wide in fear, knowing what Osiris was planning to do. She hated her feet being exposed. It made her feel weak, vulnerable, naked. Her feet were no virgin to torture, but if Osiris knew anything about using his fingers, she feared that he would break her will in a matter of minutes. And she suspected that he was well-versed in the art of interrogation. "Please, I know nothing! Have mercy, I beg of you…"

Osiris wished he didn't have to copy Benten's demented torture scheme, but the fear in Saskia's eyes made him think that it might be the right tool to break her iron will. He started to trace his finger up and down her right sole. Saskia jolted and tried to lift herself off the bench but the straps held fast. Further movement strained her joints even more, forcing her to return to her position. Osiris slowly scrambled his fingers all over Saskia's bare feet. Saskia bit her lips to deny her tormentor even a single whimper, but soon she began to giggle in hysterics.

"Where is the steel dragon?" Osiris reduced the tension to give his captive a chance to speak.

"I have nothing!" Saskia was still adamant.

Osiris grunted aloud and scratched the delicate flesh just under the base of her wiggling toes. He probed and wormed his finger in between her toes, driving Saskia insane with her need of release. She squirmed and writhed to escape but her attempts were futile. The bound held fast. Saskia had her feet tickle-tortured before, but no one had done it as devastatingly effective as Osiris. It was as if he knew every nerve endings on her feet and stimulated them with overwhelming intensity.

Certain that he could do no worse, Saskia summoned what was left to hold her insanity. But when Osiris scrambled wildly deep into Saskia's defenseless arches, racking up and down her now pink soles, Saskia lost control of her inhibition. She howled and screamed in ticklish agony, kicking and bucking with all her might to get out of her bondage. Her body and hair was drenched with her own sweat, and her lungs burnt with hyperventilation. Yet everything fell short. There was nothing she could do but to endure.

"All of this will end if you just reveal the location of the steel dragon," Osiris backed up to give Saskia an opportunity to speak. "Give me what I want, and I will make it stop."

"I have nothing…" Saskia cried in between heavy panting. "Please stop… I have nothing…"

"Do you really want to go through pain for a piece of machine?" Osiris grabbed Saskia's jaw and forced her to look at him. "Pathetic! This is what makes you all freebirths inferior to us trueborns! You take sentiments to battlefields! You will not go far with your code of conduct! Tell me! TELL ME! Where is the steel dragon?!"

That last part was utterly foreign to Saskia, partly because she was breathing heavily, partly because it came from a culture far beyond her reach. But she caught the meaning: why this, for a machine? The urge was overwhelming. The temptation had never been higher. Her body and mind could not bear any more torture. Saskia had never been pushed this far to abandon her zoid. Her morality started to disintegrate along with her consciousness, and for once she thought perhaps Trystan was right about selling the Gilvader and buying a new one once she returned to Planet Zi. All she needed to do was open her mouth.

But these people didn't understand the bond between man and zoid. It was a pact, a contract signed in blood, that they would partner with each other until death. Saskia and her Gilvader sealed that contract the day they flew out together. She was not the perfect warrior. She was just a mediocre pilot, let alone the best pilot to maximize the Gilvader's true potential. But her zoid honored their bond – many times – with everything it had. It gave its core to her. It was time she gave her heart for it.

"You shall not have him," Saskia growled in defiance, finally confirming Osiris' belief that she had the steel dragon all along. "No hands lay upon him but mine."

"Freebirth scum! No one stands in the wake of Clan Wolf!" Osiris bared his teeth.

"Then I shall take him to grave!" Saskia replied, then braced for more pain. "You shall not have him!"