The Interrogation took place before the Terran council.
The prisoner was kept under heavy guard 24/7,just to be sure that he would be able to answer the questions humanity had for him.
-Admiral as I'm sure you know already,we have some questions for you and would appreciate it if you answered them truthfully.
The chairman spoke first.
-Ask your questions.
The admiral said without any emotion.
-Why do you want to exterminate the Elani?
The Japanese prime minister asked.
-We were given orders to do so or to take their place so we had no choice in the matter.
Corybdus answered.
-Who gave the order to do so?
The chairman asked.
The Federation gave the order.
-And what were the specific orders given?
Simon asked.
-The orders stated that we had to combine our forces with other races and eliminate the Elani empire down to the last Elani we could find.
The whole council was speechless,not only did the federation order others to do their dirty work but they had no problem exterminating the species wholesale.
-Did the federation provide you with a reason for the destruction of the Elani empire?
The British prime minister asked.
-They said that the Elani were some kind of criminals that escaped the punishment about 1,5 thousand years ago and now was the time to bring them to justice.
The Brunari's Admiral answered all the questions slowly and truthfully.
-Empress Liara did you know about any of this?
The Chairman asked the Elani Empress who was present via commi=unications link.
-This is the first Time i heard about it.
We know that our people did not originate in this sector of space as our archives state that we traveled here from somewhere else and settled here to restart our civilization but there was no mention of us being any sort of criminals.
She answered,visibly shaken at this revelation.
-What kind of crimes are we supposedly guilty of?
Liara asked.
-That I don't know,the crime was never revealed to us but I suspect that It's just a way to justify destroying you.
The admiral's words shocked everyone again.
-What makes you think so?
Mikael asked.
-Most of the species in the alliance are in the same position as my own people.
Obey or get destroyed.
Corybdus said with some anger in his voice.
-We have to obey their orders and if we try to rebel then we get wiped out like the Onerik did.
-You want to say that the Onerik species got destroyed because they refused to do something for the federation?
Simon asked.
-Not just something,they refused to give up their A.I technology and to be sure that there would be no way for the federation to acquire it they deleted all the files and even convinced the A.I's do delete themselves so that there would be no way to reverse engineer them.
The Admiral said.
When Athena and the rest of the A.I's heard that,they immediately connected the dots.
Their creators didn't just get wiped out without a chance to come for them.
They choose to leave them on that planet's surface not wanting to risk the federation finding out about them.
-Can you tell us about this alliance of the races under the federation control?
One of the Council members asked to change the topic.
-It's not an alliance in a true sense but it consists of fifteen races who are at the back and call of the federation and just to be clear all of the species in this alliance are more or less slaves.
Like I told you before,It's either follow the orders or get wiped out.
He answered.
-How many ships does the alliance have?
Simon asked.
-I don't know the specific number but it's about two hundred thousand ships in total.
The admiral said, shocking everyone once again.
-Then how many ships can we expect to come in the next wave?
The chairman asked.
-We were sent with over two thousand ships and we failed so the next group they send will most likely consist of four thousand to ten thousand ships depending on the availability of the fleet.
-So youre saying that they will just increase the numbers to overwhelm us?
Steuner asked.
-That is the preferred strategy of the federation and we know it works as every fleet that we lose will take down some of the enemy forces with it and the next attack will be stronger and either finish the job or weaken the enemy even more so that the next fleet will wipe them out.
The Terrans had to admit that this was indeed a good strategy if you weren't concerned with the casualties.
The federation certainly didn't give a damn about the losses of this alliance since they were not considered their forces.
-Now that I answered some of your questions,can you answer some of mine?
The admiral asked.
-Certainly,since you are cooperative with us I don't see why we shouldn't answer some of your questions.
The chairman said.
-What do you intend to do with the soldiers you captured from my fleet?
He asked.
-We will most likely return them to the nearest planet that is occupied by your forces.
You are no exception to this as we managed to figure out that you didn't commit any war crimes against us or our allies.
The chairman answered.
The admiral sighed in relief as he was certain that his crews would be executed for their attack on the Terran space.
-Then I have a proposition for you.
He said,knowing that his people were safe and at most would be repatriated.
-What kind of deal are we talking about?
The chairman asked,his curiosity piqued.
-The one that would be beneficial for everyone involved and at the very least it won't cost you anything.
The Admiral said,before he explained in detail.