He hated it, he hated every second of the fact that this young man sat alone in the interrogation room while he was watching from behind a glass panel. Captain Vastano couldn't see him, but Jackson knew that the young man was intelligent enough to know that someone was watching him. It was a trait he earned in the streets of Chicago before he would be chased by the cops until he was arrested. Jackson silently observed him before he turned his attention to the door on the right to see a respected specialist in the Atlesian Military as she entered the room and crossed her arms.
The cold-hearted woman stared at him with a glare that most men would consider to be worst than the Atlas environment which the kingdom lived in. "Colonel Jackson, would you please tell me why you didn't follow the general's orders to interrogate the stranger?" In the colonel's mind, her tone was worse than the Russian Winter.
Jackson sighed. "Specialist Schnee, I know about Ironwood's orders, but I have my reasons for refusing to talk to him."
"Are you disobeying the general?" She questioned.
"Not really." Answered the colonel as he pulled out a flask and took a quick sip of the alcoholic contents. "The fact that I'm interrogating a guy who just got thrown here just because of our experiment, isn't exactly fair. Besides, there are other reasons."
"What reasons would that be?"
"I'm not going to tell you." Jackson answered.
Then a third person entered the room with his hands behind his back. "Colonel, now you can tell me." Turning to the doorway, the specialist and the Atlesian colonel saluted their superior as he stepped into the room with his held high. His right hand was covered with a white glove as his other hand was uncovered and was allowed to be free into the world. "Could you please tell me about the man who is sitting in that room?" He asked, referring to Captain Vastano's lonely situation.
"General, do you remember that time you went searching for me before I was 'recovered' from Earth?" Those events were months ago, but it was still fresh in the colonel's mind when he remembered the sights of a German armored push charging from the treelines and storming into Rocherath-Krinkelt roads.
"Yes." General Ironwood answered. "You were undercover into another military at the time and you wore a different uniform."
Then Specialist Schnee made her comment. "I still question if he has loyalties for those people."
"Now, now." The general turned his gaze to her. "I know he had to act like he was one of them, but how could he refuse?" He asked her. "From the colonel's position, he didn't have the means and the power to not go into service."
Jackson corrected him. "Actually, I was drafted and unless I broke my leg or had some kind of medical illness. There was no way I could get out of the draft, but now let's get back to the point."
"And what point would that be?"
"Sir, that young man sitting in that room was one of the men I fought with during the war." The colonel explained as the specialist and the general trained their gazes on him. "General... he was brought to my unit for what he did?"
The well-dressed General Ironwood raised his eyebrows. "What exactly did he do?"
Then the colonel looked down at his shoes and prepared himself for the worst reaction he could expect out of he general. Specialist Schnee was someone who was difficult to impress so there was no effort in trying to tell her. "He... he was a criminal." Jackson answered. "He was a criminal in the United States."
The expression on General Ironwood immediately changed. "Colonel, it concerns me that you are holding back because you believe there is something redeemable in this man."
His only reply was a sigh before he confronted his superior in the presence of Specialist Schnee. "I personally taught that man to be a soldier. I can assure you general, Captain Vastano is a good man and wouldn't threaten Remnant and Atlas."
Specialist Schnee spoke up. "That doesn't mean we shouldn't question him. Those experiments were meant to bring objects from Earth not people, but suddenly he arrived."
"Then you two sit back and watch, I'll talk to him and make sure he doesn't get paranoid." Jackson looked at Ironwood. "Excuse me sir." The general stepped aside as he left the room and turned to his left. The doors between the interrogation room and the observation room were walking distance of one another. Unlocking the door on his left, he slipped into the room and was met with the blue eyes of Vastano who turned to see him. "Captain, I hope you were comfortable for all of this time." He mentioned. Ever since Vastano was brought out of the experimentation room, the young officer waited three hours in this tightly-spaced room with the occasional guard giving him donuts and glasses of water. Though, they should have toned down on giving him donuts. It would terribly hurt his healthy body.
The paratrooper captain watched closely. "Jackson, what the hell is going on?!" He demanded as he rose from his seat.
However, Jackson took a seat across the table from Vastano. "Sit back down, Vastano. We got to talk."
Doing so, the mentor and the young man faced one-another in a one-on-one conversation. "Jackson?"
"How did you end up on Remnant?" Colonel Jackson question him. "Here-exactly."
"I-um." Vastano leaned back in his seat with his eyes aimed at the ceiling. "I remember I was at a bar drinking with Derby, Durante, and Edwards along with a guy whose name was Sauer-"
The colonel's hand gestured him to wait. "Doctor Sauer?!" His eyes shot up as he stared at the man young man who he once trained.
"Yeah, he was just some guy we picked up back in Lorch before he stuck with Colonel Conti." Vastano stated. "Why do you ask?"
"The man is not from Earth." Jackson stated. "He was from here-Remnant." He gestured his finger towards the ground. "He went missing nine years ago in a experimental accident."
The company commander swallowed. "That might have explained why Conti wanted him around."
"Could you tell me why?"
Then Vastano stared at him. "Jackson, what is with these god-damn questions?"
"Vastano, this is important!" He placed an emphasis on his explanation. "Not too long ago, an academy was forced to be abandoned and students were forced to leave. I don't want an event like that to happen again." That was another event still fresh in Jackson's mind. The Fall of Beacon. The academy for huntsmen and huntresses who would train themselves to fight monsters who lay outside of the walls of the kingdoms, the main cities which have survived through all of these years. "I'm sorry I have to be like this, but this is my home that I'm talking about."
Both the officers paused for a moment before Vastano continued the conversation. "Someone was unleashing these creatures all around Germany." Vastano stated. "It started in Berlin and Conti sent me and the rest of the company commanders to join up with a Soviet captain in trying to look for the man who was responsible for that. Doctor Sauer tipped the colonel off about that man and we were sent to see what it was all about." The captain continued. "I don't know what the hell this guy unleashed, but Durante, Derby, and Captain Kuznetsov took the brunt off the attack." His eyes lowered at the table between themselves. "After we killed enough of the bastards, Captain Kuznetsov got killed by an arrow to the chest."
Then Jackson grabbed his attention as he brought out a photo from his breast pocket. "Johnny, do you know what a creature of Grimm is?" He asked.
"No Jack, why?"
The colonel placed the picture on the table and showed him the sight of a beowolf, one of the creatures of Grimm with its wolf-like features; however, the one showed to Vastano was an alpha with its bony and armored plates. Jackson watched as Vastano's eyes focused on the creature presented to him.
"That's one of the damn things Durante fought!" Vastano pointed out before looking up to the colonel. "We were after the bastard who brought these things into Germany."
A sense of relief fell onto the colonel's shoulder. Then he turned around in his chair to look at the glass panel behind him. "General Ironwood, he's safe." Referring to his superior who he knew was watching from behind that glass.
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