I stepped out of the armored car, with Nina beside me.
We walked up the stairs to the Nuclear Power Plant Fenrir-4, the first nuclear power plant built outside my home fortress in Fenrir.
The guards and scientists present bowed deeply as we entered the control room.
"Commander Xander, welcome to Fenrir-4. We are honored by your presence," said the head scientist, Dr. Lang.
"Thank you, Dr. Lang. How is the reactor breeding project coming along?" I asked.
"Excellent, Commander. We have successfully bred enough plutonium and lithium deuteride to make one warhead with a 4 megaton yield, exactly to your specifications," he replied.
"Show me," I commanded.
Dr. Lang's smile faltered, and he started to shake with terror.
"I'll ask you, one more time. Status report on the breeding project," I growled.
"We are at 50% completion, Commander. The breeding process is taking longer than expected," he replied, his voice trembling.
I nodded to Nina, who stepped forward and uncoiled her whip.
Dr. Lang turned and tried to run, but Nina lashed him across the back, slicing open his skin.
He screamed in agony, and fell forward onto the floor.
"Every lie you tell me only increases your pain," said Nina, lashing him again, slicing open the skin on his arms and legs.
Dr. Lang howled in agony, tears streaming down his face.
"Please! Please! I'll tell you the truth! Just stop!" he sobbed.
"Too late! Nina, whip him to ribbons. The rest of you, bring the entire team here, Now!" I barked to the guards.
Nina licked her lips, and started to furiously lash Dr. Lang, opening deep gashes on his back, arms and legs.
His white lab coat quickly turned crimson as blood gushed from the wounds.
After his howls had subsided into whimpers, Nina kicked him onto his back.
She then started lashing his chest, abdomen and crotch, cutting open the skin, and turning his body into bloody ribbons.
The guards returned with scientific team, the scientists recoiled in terror, as they witnessed Nina lashing Dr. Lang's now lifeless corpse.
Nina finally stopped, and stepped back, breathing heavily, her whip dripping with blood.
I strode forward, and with a stomp, crushed Dr. Lang's head like a melon under my boot.
"Before we start, I want to make one thing clear," I said, as I shook off the blood from my boot.
I went back to Nina's side, and gently stroked her hair.
She shuddered with delight at my touch, and leaned into my embrace.
"Any bullshit, and you get turned into Swiss cheese, understood?" I asked the assembled scientists.
"Y-yes, Commander Xander," they stammered in unison.
Nina licked the blood from her whip, savoring the metallic taste, before coiling it back, and unstrapping her rifle from her back.
"First, how much electric power is this reactor generating?" I asked.
"Two hundred megawatts, Commander," replied one of the scientists.
Nina raised her rifle, and emptied a full magazine into the scientist, turning him into a bloody mess on the floor.
The remaining scientists gasped in horror.
"Why are we not at full capacity?" I asked, as Nina reloaded her rifle.
"We are having trouble stabilizing the reaction at full power, Commander! The control rods keep jamming!" screamed another scientist.
Nina emptied another magazine into the scientist, his body collapsing onto the floor beside his colleague.
The remaining scientists were now visibly shaking in terror.
"Anyone else care to make pathetic excuses?" I asked.
No one moved or spoke.
"You have sixty minutes to get this reactor to full power and into breeding mode, before I kill every last one of you, and do it myself," I said, holding up a stopwatch.
The scientists frantically set to work, with Nina and the guards overseeing them.
I watched as they frantically reset the control rods, and made adjustments to the core and pumps.
The reactor's power output slowly climbed upwards, going from 200 MW to 260 MW, then to 300 MW.
"Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three!" I counted down.
"Reactor at full power! Breeding mode engaged!" screamed one of the scientists, before I could finish the countdown.
I tapped a few keys on my wrist unit.
Heavy metal chains and manacles descended from the ceiling, and my guards quickly secured the scientists in them.
Another keystroke, and the chains lifted the scientists off the ground, suspending them in midair.
"Boxing practice, gentlemen! These buffoons are going to be your punching bags. No killing, but make them learn what happens to incompetence!" I ordered.
The guards chuckled darkly, and eagerly set to work, punching and kicking the suspended scientists.
Nina stood beside me, a cruel smile on her lips as she watched the beating, and the screams of scientists mingled with the grunting of the guards, and the meaty thuds of fists striking flesh.
After a few minutes, I raised my hand, and the guards stopped.
The scientists hung there, battered and bruised, gasping for air, barely conscious.
"If I have to come back here again, you're all dead! Understood?" I asked.
"Y-yes, Commander Xander," they stammered weakly.
"Let them hang there for sixty minutes, after which they should be treated with the salve. I want hourly reports on the breeding progress once you idiots get back to work," I said, before leaving the control room with Nina.