Allies

After tying up the doctor, I decided a little interrogation was in order. After all, it was her that subjected us to our own bit of torture. We were forced to stay in those cramped cages at all times, not ever being let out; not even to relieve ourselves. We were forced to degrade ourselves in such a manner and then to be cleaned, the guards would just spray into our cages with a high powered water hose.

The thought alone made my blood boil. I debated just killing her outright and being done with it, but that would leave me and my newly acquired army very blind. The knowledge that she could give us was just too valuable. Looking over her still, tied up form, I thought back on her behavior and what type of personality she had shown.

She had been especially cruel to us in the time I've been here. She was always making hate filled comments towards us, and always seemed to have a cruel smile upon her face whenever one of us would be hung up. It was like she had no sympathy for my people at all, like she generally believed that what she did to me and my people were justified.

Giving the spare weapon to one of my officers, I gave him a brief explanation on how it works and ordered him to guard the door while I talked to the nice doctor. The doctor has a name tag on her chest that reads, Dr. Lorelei Tsing. Even though the doctor's name was ready to be known, I wanted to ask her what it was as to gauge how cooperative she would be.

Kneeling in front of the doctor, I slapped her across the face. My slap seemed to be enough to wake her up. Her eyes shot open and upon noticing me, she got a very panicked look on her face as she tried to get away as fast as possible, only to realize that she was bound.

"Let me go, you filthy animal!" She shrieked at me, not realizing that her words are only making me angrier and are not helping her current situation in any way, whatsoever.

"Now why would I do that, Doctor. You never let us go, so why should we let you go?" I asked her condescendingly, my voice sounding sickly sweet.

With each word that came out of my mouth, her spirit seemed to get more and more crushed. The room where the cages are located is soundproof. It is soundproof so that it would be easier for the mountain men to ignore the atrocities that take place on a daily basis. It's much easier to ignore the shameful acts your people do, if they are out of sight and out of mind. However, blissful ignorance does not make you innocent in my eyes. The Mountain men have been a thorn in my people's side for generations, they were the boogeyman in the shadows… No mountain man shall be spared... because in my eyes, they are all guilty.

"I-I-I…" She struggled to find a good reply, eventually just opting to just stay silent with tears streaming down her face. The good doctor seemed to use that intelligent mind of hers and realized that her words didn't help her situation.

"Alright Dr. Tsing, how about you tell me everything I need to know?" I suggested darkly, staring into her fear encompassed face.

I already knew what her answer would be before I even asked. She was The Mountain's only doctor, well, the only doctor that ever came into the cage room. There was no doubt in my mind, based on her previous… dialogue, that she was fiercely loyal to The Mountain and that she did not regret her actions. Every time she entered our prison, she would be unnecessarily cruel; throwing acidic insults, physical abuse, and being just plain cruel.

"N-Never! You animals will never get out of here alive!" Dr. Tsing screams at me, seeming to have a burst of confidence, in which I only smiled in return. My loose smile soon turned into a dark grin, an idea coming to the forefront of my mind.

"We shall see, Doctor." I replied sarcastically, turning my head to look towards two random warriors that were near me.

"You two!" I called out, getting the warriors' attention. One of the warriors was a woman while the other was a man. I didn't recognize them from my army, but the man had Azgeda tattoos on his face. The woman had a tribal mark on her shoulder that was visible, but I wasn't aware of the meaning. However, the way she stayed near the Azgeda man speaks of familiarity. Which meant that Azgeda struggles with The Mountain more than they'd like to admit.

"Shield." They both greeted with admiration and respect, their bodies standing erect. Their accents sounded heavily of Azgeda and it only cemented my earlier thoughts. However, when their eyes fell upon the bound and fearful form of Dr. Tsing, pure hate and anticipation replaced the admiration and respect that they held for me.

"What are your names?" I asked them, wanting to know the names of my imprisoned comrades. After all, under The Coalition, we are all allies in the war against The Mountain.

Their eyes left the pathetic doctor near my feet and looked towards me once more. For some reason, they were confused why I would want to know their names, but they answered none the less.

"Samuel." The man spoke first, his voice deep and gruff. I was surprised that the mountain men didn't use him for their Cerberus project, he was a very large individual.

Samuel was a good head over himself in height and was built similarly to Lincoln, he had an Azgeda tattoo over the upper half of his face and his hair was to his shoulders in thick braids. There was some light stubble on his face due to being captured and unable to shave, based on the amount, I'd have to take a guess that he has been imprisoned for several days at the most.

The woman had no facial scars or Azgeda tattoos which would imply she wasn't a warrior, but I knew better. There were small scars that were scattered randomly around her body and her body itself was rather muscular. She wasn't overly muscular, but her body was lithe with rather lean muscle, most likely from years of intense training. She had dark brown hair with traces of blonde within, her hair itself was dirty and matted due to the conditions of our prison, but she still held an aura of beauty and strength about her, similar to Lexa.

"Echo." The woman spoke next, her voice was not nearly as gruff as the mans and she seemed to speak with a tone of pride. Hearing her name, I let out a little chuckle.

I knew of Echo, she was one of Queen Nia's royal guards and she was a very skilled warrior. The fact that there were no tell tale Azgeda tattoos or scars on her face only backed up who she was even more. Echo wasn't only a royal guard, she was also a very successful spy and assassin, which was the reason that her face is "unmarked." A clan's spy is supposed to be a master in subterfuge and stealth, they can't do their job if they have their clan's markings on their face for everyone to see.

"What is Nia's dog doing in The Mountain?" I ask her seriously, almost daring her to lie to me. I purposely posed my question as an insult to test how much fight she still had in her. I want to see if she was a valuable asset to have with me or not when I take down The Mountain, as well as get some information.

She didn't even bat an eye at my insult, choosing to ignore it all together. Her reaction didn't surprise me though, likely she is used to such insults. Silence follows my question for several moments, the only sound near us is the occasional whimper from Dr. Tsing. I doubt that the mountain men would be so stupid as to march into the Azgeda capital and capture one of Queen Nia's royal guards, meaning she was most likely sent out and was captured during a mission.

"I… was on a mission… given to me by the prince." Echo eventually spoke, her gaze unwavering as she met my own.

Her reply was quite surprising. Since the prince was banished, no one has heard a thing from him, and yet here was one of Queen Nia's royal guards and top spy in the entire clan, receiving missions from him.

"I see." I replied stoically, not giving away how much her answer caught me off guard. I would seek more information from Echo when we were out of the mountain, until then, we must not be distracted by trivialities and keep our minds focused on the destruction of Mount Weather.

"We shall continue this discussion once we are safely above ground, but until then, I request your assistance." I spoke with respect, bearing my forearm to her.

With only a slight bit of hesitation, she grasped my forearm, and I hers. "Whatever you require from us, we shall try our best to see it done, Shield gon Heda's." Echo replied, a small smirk on her face. The man alongside her nodded along in agreement.

At her words, a matching smile made its way over my lips and I couldn't help but laugh a little. The mountain men had no idea who they had imprisoned, and that ignorance is what led to my escape.

Letting go of her arm, I motion towards the bound doctor. "I need you two, to… soften her up for me. She is rather adamant on not helping us out, and so I think you two would help her see the positives of being helpful."

Hearing my words, the doctor started crying even more, but she stayed silent. Shaking my head at her stubbornness, I took a step away from the doctor and allowed my allies to get started.

"P-Please… let me g-."

Thwack!

The doctor's words were cut off as a meaty fist slammed itself against the side of her face... and more soon followed.