A/N all spoken sentences in brackets [~] are in Japanese for ease of typing. Again, The State wishes to thank Comrades Draco38, jm1681 and Rassilon001 for their efforts in editing and story ideas
Sergeant White and Sergeant Pegg each led their respective prisoners to the dock where the Ark Royal's launch lay at anchor. Sergeant Major Blake met them at the pier.
"I see you found them," Blake said as he gave each detainee the once over.
"They weren't all that hard to find, really," White said as he nudged Shinagawa forward. "All we had to do was find one, and follow him to the other one."
"Did they give you any trouble?" Blake asked.
"At first, Chiba here tried to run," Pegg said as he double checked his arrest notes. "but...you know how that works out."
[Piss on you, foreigner!] Chiba spat on Blake. [You have no right!]
[Ah, but I do,] Blake said, eliciting a shocked reaction from both men. [That's right, all of us understand Japanese.]
Neither prisoner said anything more as White and Pegg wrestled them aboard the launch. "Take us to the forward base," Blake ordered the coxswain.
The boat beached itself on the spit of sand discovered the first day over the barricade. The prisoners were marched up the road and into the inn that served as the forward base and up to the second floor, away from the operations areas.
Pegg took the man identified as Shinagawa into the first room, White led Chiba into a third room while Blake entered a room between the two shortly thereafter.
[Who did it?] Pegg demanded of Shinagawa. [Who raped the girl?]
Shinagawa remained silent. Pegg paced the room a bit. Once in a while, he would turn and flick Shinagawa's ears with his middle finger.
[Knock it off,] Shinagawa protested. [I have rights as a prisoner.]
[If this were Before, I would agree,] Pegg said, pausing to flick Shinagawa's ear once more. [But since The End, you have no rights. You're now a prisoner of war...my prisoner of war.]
Shinagawa spat on the floor in front of Pegg as he continued to pace. [You know, I bet aniki is telling my partner you did it. If he tells us that, we can hang you in the village for everyone to see. You want to bring that kind of shame to your parents?]
[Chiba-aniki would never rat me out,] Shinagawa protested. [We're family and family sticks together.]
[You want to bet your life on that, chibi?]
Shinagawa cringed slightly at the word 'chibi'. Pegg smiled at the reaction. He sat down on the floor in front of Shinagawa and pulled out his Sykes-Fairbairn. ]My superior officer said I'm allowed to do whatever it takes to get a confession out of you.]
Shinagawa watched as Pegg played with his knife. [I served three years in Afghanistan, you know that? Nasty business, trying to get info out of them lot. One man lasted three days, three days, before he died. Never told us a bloody thing.]
Shinagawa shook a bit before he struggled to regain his composure.
[It's only too bad we don't have a car battery and some jumper cables,] Pegg shivered for effect. [I can't imagine what that does to your balls.]
Pegg stood and flicked Shinagawa's ear once more. [I'm going to leave you tied to that post for a moment while I see how my partner is doing on aniki.]
As Pegg slid the door open, the sounds of fists hitting wet flesh reverberated into the room. [Ah, I see aniki is tough. This ought to be fun.] Pegg flashed an evil smile and stepped out into the hall. He slid the door to the middle room where he watched Blake, in white apron, work over a large filet, the sounds of his fist tenderizing that night's dinner filling the air.
[Talk, you bastard!] Blake shouted at the fish steak. He nodded to Pegg who stepped back into the hall. He slid open the door to where White had Chiba tied by his ankles upside down from a rafter. [Your younger brother is a tough cookie,] Pegg whispered. [Won't give you up, even to save his own neck. That's loyalty for ya.]
Chiba smiled, even as the blood rushing to his face blurred his vision. [Family is everything, Chiba said.]
White pulled a wicker chair from a closet and carefully cut the seat from it. Pegg gathered up a heavy piece of rope and tied a large knot to the end of it. [Take this next door, strip Shinagawa and work his nads over with the rope,] White told Pegg as he handed over the chair.
[With pleasure,] Pegg said. He stepped into the hall, bypassed Blake and walked back into his interrogation room. He sat the chair in front of Shinagawa and dangled the rope in front of him.
[I just wanted to give you a heads up,] Pegg said. [If aniki doesn't tell us who raped the girl, I get to use this on you.]
Shinagawa shook visibly as the implication dawned on him. [It was Majima! Majima Minato!]
Pegg set the rope and chair to one side and produced a pen and pad. [Describe him.]
[Grey hair, kinda chubby, and a limp. He has a moustache and goatee and a mole on his cheek, left one, I think. That's all I know, I swear!]
Pegg smiled and stood up. He stuffed a rag into Shinagawa's mouth and walked back in on Blake to relieve him of his pummeling duties. Between blows, Pegg passed on the description to Blake who then stepped into the hall. Not bothering to wipe the blood from his face or apron, Blake entered White's interrogation room.
[Shinagawa passed out,] Blake announced. Chiba's eyes widened at the sight of Blake. [It's all up to aniki here. Where are my pliers?]
[In the kitchen along with the welding torch,] White said.
[Blast!] Blake spat. [I don't want to go all the way downstairs just to get my tools. I get ever so irritable if I have to work at interrogation. Poor Shinagawa couldn't take it, so I'll have to work it out on Chiba here.]
White passed over a straight razor. [Would this suffice? I just honed it this morning.]
[Majima Minato!] Chiba cried out, despite himself. [It was Majima Minato! Shinagawa and I only held the girl down. Majima did it!]
[You only held her down!] Blake thundered, his spit hitting Chiba's face. [You're every bit as guilty as the man who did it, and that is why you're gonna swing right next to him!]
Chiba broke down and wept unabashedly. [It wasn't my fault! I was only following orders!]
[Orders!] Blake bellowed red-faced. He rounded on Chiba with such force as to cause the man to nearly empty his bowels. [Who follows orders to rape a child? Who follows orders to hold her down as she tries desperately to get away? No, my old son, you are going to swing for this! All of you!]
White gently nudged Blake away from the prisoner before any real harm came to either one. "Sar Major," White pleaded. "Go downstairs and have a cuppa tea."
Blake shook in rage as White and Pegg removed him from the room. Blake clenched his fists as he leaned against the wall.
"Cut him loose," Blake said. "Wash the prisoners up, but keep them separated for a while."
"Aye, Sar Major," White said as he let Chiba fall graceless to the hard floor. [Oops, I am ever so sorry, old boy.]
Blake stalked downstairs, leaving White alone with Chiba. [I want a description, Chiba.]
Chiba blubbered incoherently for several minutes as White waited patiently. Pegg excused himself from the room to check on his prisoner.
[Description, Chiba,] White demanded again. [Or do I call the Sar Major back in here?]
[Big, has grey hair, moustache and goatee.] Chiba managed to spout through his sobs. [He has a mole on his left cheek with some hairs growing from it and walks with a slight limp.]
[Where can I find this Majima Minato?]
[He lives in the guest house where my wife and I stay,] Chiba sobbed. [My wife put him down as her father on the refugee roster.]
[Are you living there under the name Chiba?]
[Yes.]
White stood, then toggled his throat mic. "White to Evans, over."
Silence.
"Get to the Chiba residence, address on file at the liaison shed. Arrest Majima Minato. Take one other Marine with you. Consider Majima dangerous. Repeat Chiba residence; arrest Majima Minato, considered dangerous."
Silence.
"Copy all, White out." White turned back to Chiba. [Stand up, if you please.]
Chiba complied as White slipped a thick zip-tie around his wrists. Your man Shinagawa will be very distressed to hear you gave up your boss, Chiba. How could he ever look up to you again?
Chiba hung his head as White marched him into the hall, past the closed rooms and down the stairs. He was taken to the launch and they set out to the Ark Royal.
Aboard, they met with Captain McElroy and a deputation of sailors.
"Take this man to the brig," McElroy ordered. The sailors snapped salutes and led Chiba down to the brig.
"What's going to happen to him and his partner?" White asked once the prisoner was out of earshot.
"I want to hang the whole bloody lot of them, but I can't, damn it all," McElroy sighed.
"Can we get rid of them, sah?"
"Get rid of?" McElroy faced his subordinate. "You don't mean to suggest..."
"I mean, put them ashore and leave them stranded," White clarified. "A marooning."
"Sadly, I don't think I can do that either," McElroy heaved another sigh. "My hands are tied by Admiralty law since they are civilians."
"But they assaulted and raped the de-facto ward of a member of our armed forces," White said.
"I know," McElroy said. "I can't try them for that, either. All I can get them for is the actual crime, and it will have to suffice."
"Can you get them for lese-majesty?" White suggested. "Make a case that they targeted Miss Kinoshita despite knowing she is the ward of Sergeant Phillips?"
"Slim, White," McElroy cautioned. "Very slim, but it could work."
"That way, you can bring them in front of a military tribunal, rather than a court. No court means no jury that might acquit."
McElroy eyed his Marine Sergeant. "You would make a frighteningly good prosecutor, White. I'm glad your loyalties are aboard this ship."
"And nowhere else, sah," White saluted, a broad smile on his face. He held his hand to his ear. "One moment, sah."
Silence.
"White copies. Bring the prisoner to the Ark, we'll interrogate him here. White out."
"White?"
"Sorry, sah," White said. "Private Evans rounded up the third suspect in the rape case. He is on his way here."
McElroy smirked. "Take him to the hangar deck and lash him to the railing until I finish preparing my comments."
"Sah!"
White turned down the corridor. He met Private Evans and a sailor from ship's company. Majima looked none the worse for wear, except for a prominent black eye. White cocked an eyebrow at Evans.
"Resisting lawful arrest, Sergeant" Evans said, as he tried to hide his bruised right knuckles.
"Right," White replied. "Take him to the hangar deck. Lash him fast to the railing and no one leaves him unattended."
"Aye, Sergeant," Evans said as he nudged Majima up the gangway.
[You will regret this,] Majima spat.
[Not nearly so much as you will, big boy,] White jabbed back.