Lower Than Expectation

"Two minutes and thirty eight seconds. The imperial military used to have standards." Wix was standing in the control room drinking his morning coffee. The monitors were displaying the results of the military units attempt to pacify the vessel.

"Two people still remain sir, should we let them go?" Wix wanted Walters there to see why they let the ship go, but the man had taken a damnable sick day and thus he had to deal with a bunch of junior technicians too afraid to ever voice a dissenting voice. Wix considered what to do to the two still on their ship, they were probably staring at monitors of their own terrified of what will come, and they should be.

"No, close the bay and lock it down, perhaps we can draw out subject thirteen, or the two remaining soldiers will do something incredibly stupid and entertaining, either way its a win win." Wix smiled and no one else in the room did which made him sad. He always stood behind the philosophy you should enjoy the work you do, he certainly did.

****

"They're all dead" The pilot Stevens looked at the monitors with disbelief, Rolando who had been watching as well shook his head.

"Man I have to stop hearing that."

"What?"

"Nothing, look we just need to back out of here and come back with like warships and..." as he was talking the klaxon's warbled and the computer banks informed them that the docking bay had been shut down. "Grab our asses and kiss them good bye."

Not A Day Unless There's a Problem

Roberts had called Brubaker to let him know about the station guest. He figured Roberts was a chicken shit coward who didn't want to deal with the problem himself, so he decided to send Brubaker, claiming that "This is a Colonel kind of issue". Brubaker didn't need this kind of thing to deal with, he had just sent off Lorentino on some mission of dubious merit and Wyse and Darla had departed themselves chasing a rumor of a low level runaway; Brubaker told them to wait for Rolando, but those two didn't really listen to him most of the time and so they left.

The woman was waiting for him, she had a drink across from her some kind of purple something or other. Dark skin, no hair, and a clear cybernetic implant in her eye; her outfit was strictly business casual, vest over shirt, white's and blacks no weird color choices. She did have a rather large gun in a shoulder holster, most people didn't openly carry on Rim, though it wasn't against the law.

"A colonel? I didn't think I rated that highly." Her voice was clipped, almost masculine in way of speaking, if not for the cheek bones her look could confuse her for a man.

"What can I say I take all threats seriously, trying to poison me?"

"It's a peace offering Colonel Brubaker, expensive one at that." Brubaker took a seat and picked up the glass, the fluid sizzled and popped like it was carbonated.

"Don't think I've ever seen this particular brew before."

"If I wanted to kill you I'd have shot you when you came into eye sight, there was a two second window where I saw you, but you did not see me, but I am not here to kill you." Brubaker made a dramatic sigh, but he knew she wasn't there to kill him, who he was worried about was Rolando. Rolando despite being fairly good as his job, had some enemies, mostly as a legacy of his father, but he's also tried his best to piss people off all on his own.

"Lorentino is also not on station right now in case you were wondering." Her demeanor didn't crack, though people of her order never did from the few times Brubaker had run into a Mordere.

"The young lieutenant? No I'm not here for him, though you have little to worry about with regards to him and my order, he's officially off our lists forever. We do not hunt Lorentino's professional courtesy." That seemed odd, but he knew little of the Mordere's other than the killing and the one natural eye thing they all favored.

"You'll have to forgive me then, what would have a sin show up on the Rim?"

"I'm actually on vacation, I always wanted to see the galaxy, and now I am." Now she smiled, and then stood up.

"You don't expect me to believe that do you?"

"I expect you to drink that, its quite expensive." She left Brubaker sitting there, not too long after she walked off Roberts was screaming in Brubaker's ear.

"What did she want? WHO IS SHE HERE TO KILL!?"

"I don't know Roberts, she just offered me a drink, and I don't know if I like it, kind of tart and bitter." Roberts shouted some swears and Brubaker just tuned him out. He wasn't quite sure about that drink, but he was coming around to its flavor the longer Roberts bitched at him.

Hate Is Not a Strong Enough Word

Rolando hated space travel, he hated everything about having to strap in and prepare for weightlessness. He hated having to wear a suit just in case things went badly. He hated how small and cramped things were and how often you were just as likely to bang your head off something despite being weightless. It was the worst thing. Everything about space travel pissed him off, he always guessed he had inherited this from his father since his mom never seemed to have an issue traveling.

Trezlan hated space travel, it was one of the first clear memories he had of his father, the man clenching his fist as the ship lifted off. Trezlan used to openly curse when any unexpected shake occurred. And he was the worst passenger on any trip, Rolando at least prided himself on not being that guy when he was traveling, he just kept his mouth shut and thought in his head about all the places he'd rather be instead of traveling through space. Like say sailing on the ocean, or sitting on a beach.

This particular trip through space was to investigate the last ship the freighter full of dead people had come in contact with. Rolando didn't like the mission, partially because Hanlon had told him this was somewhat of a trap, and partially because he told them it was nothing magical, but he had been assigned to the squad to give his "magical expertise". Brubaker was especially proud a hound had been invited, even though Rolando was not happy to be there.

All told the squad consisted of twelve other soldiers aside from Rolando, and the two pilots who were commanding officers and officially running the mission. Rolando's position was to remain on the ship until the other ship was secured. Which was fine with him, he didn't want to go on the ship, he didn't want to be anywhere near it, but being on the other ship while the big tough soldiers secured it felt a lot better than having to go himself. Even more so because they refused to release his shackles for fear of him.

So there he was shackled up, locked in, and hating every minute of it as the ship slowly approached on the horizon with a bit of foreboding building as it got bigger and bigger.

Seems Believeable

"I repeat myself for the third time, where have you been Rolando?" Rolando was still seated, and stunned at what had happened. Clearly from how Brubaker was talking he had been missing, but he couldn't even begin to guess where, or how. All he was left with was an unsettling feeling that whatever being he ran into in Hanlon was not a normal entity.  Well either that or he was crazy as his father, something he always feared would happen.

"If I told you I don't know would that be a good answer?"

"If I told you get to my office right now before I have you detained would you MOVE YOUR ASS RIGHT NOW!"

"Yes sir." Rolando got up out of his stupor and hauled ass to Brubaker's office where the older man was relieved/pissed off to see the younger man.

"I'm glad you decided to reemerge? How in the gods name did you avoid station scanners for over three hours?" Rolando couldn't even begin to explain. Even as he tried to remember Hanlon's face it was fading.

"I have no idea, I thought I was sitting down for a meal with someone my father knew, but then you're yelling in my ear its three hours later and I don't even know where I was." Brubaker softened, of all people Rolando could tell about his missing time being related to someone Trezlan knew, this was the man who could believe him, he had in fact seen some weird shit on the rim.

"Someone who knew Trezlan? Did you get a name?"

"Hanlon I think is what he said?" Brubaker went white in the face. He had heard the name, usually uttered on the lips of dying men. I mean Hanlon was also an arms manufacturer, but despite them having been around for hundreds of years there were no actual people that had the last name, it was like a mark of a bad sign. It was one of Brubaker's earliest cases in the hounds to track down a rumor about Hanlon that got him seemingly permanently assigned on the Rim.

"Did he tell you anything? What did he look like? Was there anything weird about him?"

"You're weirding me out Brubaker, to be honest I don't remember much about the man, its like a dream at this point, I just recall he said that what killed those people on that ship wasn't magical it was bio mechanical." Brubaker sat back down in his chair in a slump.

"He told you about that dumb ship and that was it? How frustrating, I've been on that being trail for years and you sit down with him and just tells you about that?"

"He also asked me where I have been, but that could have just been you coming through from him, got to be honest Brubaker I might have just drifted off to sleep or something, again it feels more dream than real."

"Sure fine whatever, go back to your bunk, you're dismissed." Rolando got a sense there was a deeper context here, but he didn't force the issue, Brubaker had sent him away and he wanted nothing more than to get asleep. Which turned out for the best for Rolando, because he was about to not be able to sleep for a long time, very soon.

Always Testing

"Sir I'm confused by one aspect of this test." Walters was a Morlatech junior officer, he had greying hair despite only being thirty he blamed it on the rigors of working for a group of psychopaths like Morlatech. He had never met Morley their recluse of an owner, but his touch was everywhere in the corporation, from the creepy paintings of the man in every room, to the very name of the company Morley was in everything. He was in his chief officers office now, a man that seemingly looked like Morley himself based on the huge painting behind him, but his name was Wix, never a first name, just Mr. Wix.

"Just one aspect Walters? Ok what aspect is that?" Wix didn't mind Walters, he was a useful idiot, not aware of any big picture and a perfect patsy should things go bad, and thing will definitely go bad, Wix knew it more than anything else. What they were testing was awful, and someone would eventually face an execution for it, and he wanted that to be Walters.

"Why did we send the ship towards Rim Station?"

"We need more test subjects for the project, we can't sit around waiting for ships to stumble upon it and command wants military test subjects more than subject thirteen wherever she got off to." Thirteen had been missing for about a year, she was somewhere aboard the test ship, but none of the subjects or the cameras had caught her in six months. Command assumed she was assimilated, but there was no proof of that in any of their scans, she had become a ghost.

"And command thinks this is the best way to do that?"

"Rim station has military personnel on board, and the imperial military is as good as any other, sure a bit underfunded on the rim, but less likely to cause an intergalactic incident. And hell if things look bad we'll just blow the ship, no problem." Walters was never fond of the way Wix was perfectly fine talking about killing people, it made him seriously question why he ever went to work for Morlatech, there were so many nicer corporations.

"Makes perfect sense sir sorry I questioned the mission."

"It's ok Walters you've never been a big picture kind of guy." Wix opened the door to his office and both men thought to themselves what an asshole the other was.

Trust In Short Supply On the Rim

"And what can you do for me Mr. Hanlon?" Rolando was seated, no one else seemingly was in the area, despite the restraurant usually being a more busy one. He figured everyone was at the docks trying to figure out what killed all those people.

"Other than serve you a meal you aren't eating? I can tell you what killed those people down on that ship was not magical, it was biological, well sort of biological and mechanical."

"And you know this because you were involved?" Hanlon laughed, it was as unsettling as his smile.

"Gods no, I know this because I know the man who did it, or had it set in motion to get done, a malicious little troll known as Morley, your father..."

"Yeah my father warned me all about Morley." It was an extensive warning about the current owner operator of the company known as Morlatech. It was one of the few things Trezlan ever seemingly kept coming back to.

"I'm sure he did, I'm also sure he left out a lot of information about why, but that's irrelevant, he's the reason you have a ship full of dead people."

"And you told me this out of the kindness of your heart? You do know he's part of the corporate sector right and I literally can not touch him as a member of the Imperial government?" Rolando didn't understand Hanlon, or why he decided to help, even less so his help was basically creating a bigger issue with a corporation.

"I told you to establish trust, I wanted you to know something I knew."

"I'm not a very trusting sort of guy."

"Of course you aren't, you're a Lorentino, all the same, now that you know what I know, let me ask you of something."

"Sure, you've given me information I can in no way verify about some weird biological mechanical threat posed by a group I can't actually do anything about, how can I possibly also help you Mr. Hanlon." Hanlon smiled it seemed that was his natural reaction to someone being cross with him, Rolando could see how dealing with him would get tiresome.

"Well at least you've kept an open mind to what I'm going to ask. But I simply ask you a question Rolando, where have you been all this time?" It seemed a silly question, Rolando was going to answer, but Hanlon was gone, the food was gone, and only he was sitting at the table with Brubaker shouting into his ear.

"Where have you been?" Brubaker sounded out of breath from the screaming. Rolando looked around and he saw a bunch of people sitting around him he didn't see sit down. He checked his watch and it had been three hours since he had sat down.

"I, uhh I have no idea."

Hello To an Old Face

Rolando was frustrated. He was mad that he hadn't been invited to look over the ship more than he already had. He was frustrated he was stuck on this station in the middle of no where where everyone suspected him of being a bad person, and also frustrated that Darla was so uninteresting as a person and that his attempt at dating her seemed like a really really bad idea. He was mainly walking with his head down through the main concourse when someone called out his name. Which was strange because most of the people on Rim just ignored him out of fear of him as a shifter like the dock supervisor. So it was rather strange for a man in a black suit with dark black hair calling out his name, even weirder so that he had set out a plate of real actual food and not just paste with vegetables across from himself.

"Do I know you?" The man had pale skin, but otherwise looked like several businessman Rolando had met when he lived with his father. The only really weird thing was his clothes were severely dated looking and not at all in a modern style.

"No, well not in a way that any of you people know any of the rest of you."

"That's a delightfully vague and unsettling way of saying no." Rolando was standing at the table, trying to decide if he should sit down or not.

"Sit Mr. Lorentino, I prepared a meal for you."

"Yeah I'm kind of leery of that, real food is not easy to get out here and we just had our first ship after like a couple days, so even with refridgeration and such I don't know where or even what this food is." The man smiled.

"Other than delicious? Boy you are your fathers child, though he never turned down a meal much to his own detriment several times over."

"Well that explains it you're one of my fathers friends, failed with Valrym and now he's trying you to get to me? Look I appreciate that dad wants to mend fences or whatever, but they are broken and no amount of his contact list can change that, even if I would kind of want his help right now." The man smiled.

"I always appreciate the lack of logic in the Lorentinos, glad to know you have that from his as well, as to your fear he sent me, I haven't spoken to Trezlan in hundreds of years." Rolando did take a seat and tried his best to not eat the food even though it looked so appetizing.

"So you subscribe to the same insanity my father peddles about being hundreds of years old."

"Just shy of a thousand last I checked, longevity by the use of death magic, funny how that works right?"

"Right, and you are Mr.?"

"Hanlon."

"Have a first name Hanlon?"

"Not that I can remember, maybe Trezlan does." He smiled wide like a shark does, it unsettled Rolando in much the same way it unsettles his father.

"What can I do for you Mr. Hanlon?"

"Its not what you can do for me, its what I can do for you Lieutenant." Hanlon smiled and somewhere in the back of Rolando's mind there was a memory dying to fight to the service and that memory was screaming "Don't trust Hanlon!!" alas like most things with memory, it was lost in the moment.

Not a Hound Kind of Problem

"Dead?"

"Yep."

"All of them?"

"Looks that way."

"Shit." Brubaker had been advised of the situation post Rolando saving the station. He was taking a nap and was very upset no one bothered to wake him up considering he was one of only two people on station with any kind of authority and no one thought the potential destruction of the station was worth contacting him over. He always suspected Commander Roberts had it out for him, primarily because Brubaker is a Colonel and Roberts is not, but he made note to address this next time he spoke with someone in Imperial command, if only to just piss and moan about it.

The ship Rolando had stopped from crashing into the station was full of dead people. Twenty five dead people, in various states of death. Some like the crewman Rolando found in the bridge had died of starvation, others appeared ripped apart. Crews could find nothing on board that suggested why everyone had decided to either kill each other or starve to death, but they were peering over the records to figure that out. Brubaker and his group had of course been shut out of the investigation.

It was a common issues the Hounds ran into all over. Their organization was tasked with policing and capturing magical people, but never allowed in on investigations or general military actions. It always stuck out in Brubaker's mind that a group set up to deal with strange situations was never consulted when those situations showed up. His group was good with finding and getting magic users back, but they also just generally knew magic, and yet their expertise never got brought up or used, they were told to mind their business and let the big boys play, and it always pissed off Brubaker and his crew.

"Did you get a sense of anything magical before they kicked you out of there?" Brubaker was still in his office, he hadn't seen the point of going down there and getting mad at Roberts he could do that just fine from the office.

"Would it have mattered if I did? But no, nothing magical, or nothing I could sense, then again that was more of dad's ability than me, I'm just good at the one thing." Rolando was waiting outside of the now docked ship. They had it cordoned off and were keeping the few looke loos away.

"You wouldn't happen to have a way of getting hold of the old man would you?"

"Sure let me just call up old Trez I'm sure he wouldn't mind coming down here so we could arrest him. You know funny enough I'm sure if I told him what we had he might actually find a way down here."

"Well then by all means, kill two birds with one stone as it were." Rolando ended the transmission and Brubaker sat ineffectually staring at his monitors watching the docking bay and not getting any info on what's going on.

Not a Great After Meal

"So then I broke his jaw." Darla was quite proud of her story of how her last date had ended, Rolando considerably less so. They were seated at one of the few "finer" dining opportunities at the station. Fine dining in this case meaning food that wasn't just reheated paste, but instead was mostly reheated paste with some vegetables that had been freeze dried from some planet no one remembers.

"I think this was a mistake."

"What eating at this restaurant? Yeah the prices are kind of expensive." A waiter walking by gave Darla a nasty glare, but she shrugged it off.

"No I mean..." Before Rolando could finish the conversation there was a commotion from down the hallway. Boots running towards the docking area, Darla and Rolando put down their forks and made their way with the rest of the group of people. There were around twenty of them when they got to the docking area where a group of workers were frantically working to secure a dead ship so it didn't slam into the station.

"What's going on?" Rolando outranked everyone else in the area, but due to him being magical no one really paid his rank mind.

"Dead ship came out of a cut almost right on top of us, don't know if its electrical or not, but if we don't secure that bitch now she'll smash right into the station." The dock hand was chomping on a root while ordering the other people to try and fire lash's to secure the ship.

"Don't we have another ship on station we can use to lasso it or anything?"

"Nope, no one in port and our service ship just made a supply run." Rolando looked over at the workers trying in vain to hook the ship. Lash lines were entirely unreliable for hooking ships, and even if they did manage to snag it, there was no guarantee it would stop the thing from slamming into the station and gods know what kind of damage that would do.

"Can we hook into their bridge cam?"

"I don't see what that will do? Show us they aren't paying attention?"

"I need something to see to jump in there. Darla you're going to have to unhook me." Rolando held his arms out and Darla looked at him like she wasn't sure to do it, "Oh come on I'm not using this to skip out on dinner." She chuckled and then unhooked the shackles.

"Got you a look inside for whatever good it will do shifter." The term shifter was one Rolando had heard his whole life, most people said it in a derogatory way because of fear. He had gotten used to the suspicion, but was still mad despite his service record for all the derision. He could see the inside of the ship, looked empty and dark, he hoped for a brief moment it had oxygen, and then he was inside. That's how it was with shifting, he just saw something and then went there, there were of course space limitations, but he didn't exactly know how far those were the furthest he'd ever shifted was twenty miles and to the best of his knowledge that was one of the longest on record.

The inside of the ship did thankfully have oxygen, and it was as empty as it had appeared on the monitor. He didn't have a lot of time to look around, he had to make sure the ship didn't impact with the station. Rolando had in theory been trained on ship piloting years previous, but ships had changed from the last time he had any training and he wasn't the best person at all the technical stuff anyway.

"You're going to have to fire the reverse thrusters Lieutenant." Rolando wasn't that surprised they had gotten into the speaker system of the ship, I mean if they had cameras they could easily hook into the PA.

"Wouldn't happen to know what button that is dock officer?"

"It's to your right the big glowing button on the console."

"Oh right of course it would be." Rolando pressed the button and the ship fired its reverse thrusters. And stopped just shy of slamming into the station.

"Good job Lieutenant." Rolando breathed a sigh of relief, and sat down on the chair near the console, that's when he noticed the desiccated corpse underneath the station.

"Well that certainly didn't settle my stomach."

No One Likes a Sass Mouth

Rolando and Darla were walking the prisoner towards transport. It was early yet so only the very early go getters were even up, which mean on rim station no one was up. Both Rolando and the prisoner bore the shackles, so to a passer by it looked like the weirdest group of prisoners, but most people on Rim knew Rolando at this point and knew despite the shackles he was no prisoner.

"You're a traitor." Rolando laughed a little bit, he heard it before, Darla also smiled.

"I don't believe I've turned against my government as of late, though I did forget to requisition some of the soap I used to clean off all the shit you made us tromp through, I don't believe that equals treason."

"Nah just you're usual paperwork adverse stance." Darla gave him a punch on the shoulder, the prisoner turned around to face the both of them.

"You have betrayed your blood, hunting us with the normals, we are not prisoners by birth we are people." He spit on Rolando. Rolando didn't do anything, but Darla tripped the man and had him come crashing down to the hard floor.

"Rolando is a good man, he puts filth like you back where you belong, you're a murderer and worse, you are not imprisoned by your birth, you are imprisoned by your actions." The prisoners lip was bloodied, but he had a smile on his face.

"When we take over I'll make you my slave, bitch."

"I'm so terrified it just shows up like bemusement at a clown like you." They walked the prisoner to the transport and the guards didn't even ask about his bloodied lip. It was a given that magical people would have "accidents" on the way back to sanctuary, it wasn't a perfect system, but the history books was littered with worse ones.

Everyday Assholes

Wize, Darla and Rolando were knee deep in waste. They were in the bowels of the station, down in the waste processing area chasing down a fugitive. He had arrived a few days before their trip down to the bowels, and had managed to not trip any kind of genetic sensor up until he spit on the floor. A move that shockingly caught a lot of idiots out on the rim, they apparently were completely confused that the station's sub computers could analyze their genes just from saliva. Rolando was still wearing his shackles, Darla was the only one armed, she had a rifle and a couple pistols on, Wize had to make do with the tools he had brought with him.

"Do you see anything?" Brubaker was on comms back at their squad's command room, which was pretty much a closet with a wall bank of computers and communication equipment.

"Shit all kinds of shit." Darla responded with her usual measured tone, she was walking in the lead, Rolando was behind her, and Wize was pulling up the rear.

"Something more specific please." Brubaker could see on his monitors all the shit, he was hoping they could see something different.

"Nothing but shit Sir." Rolando spoke up, technically he outranked both Wize and Darla, but it never got brought up much on patrols or retrievels. Rolando by virture of his magical ability was higher rank in the military, but also due to what his magical ability was, would never most likely be in charge of anyone.

"Speaking of shit, what am I doing on this shit detail? I'm not a soldier, I don't have weapons training, I'm just a guy who fixes shit, so why am I down here in this shit?" Rolando and Darla turned to look at Wize who was almost up to his waist in the waste water.

"We need you to open the locks and stuff Wize, Darla and I are terrible at that, Darla because she'd rather blow them open, and I look down on just simply opening a door when I can shift through it." Wize looked at them both with contempt.

"You're down there because I told you to get down there Wize, now shut up, are you sure you aren't seeing this guy? It's too dark on the feed." Brubaker couldn't really make out anything, but the equipment on Rim station was old and direly in need of upgrade, much like the camera's his group were using.

"It isn't much easier to see anything down here, and at least you don't smell this shit." Darla responded for the rest of the team. Technically the team were wearing masks that should have blocked the smell, but the masks were old and all the technology in the world can't override what your brain is telling you, that it smells and it smells badly.

"You know I don't think this guy is even..." Wise was halfway saying the guy they were after wasn't even down there when he emerged from underneath the shit and grabbed hold of wise, much to the man's abject horror.

"Put your rifle down bitch or I'll bleed this guy right in front of you." The magic user wasn't very strong, but what he did have was the ability to kill people by touch by "bleeding them" it was a rather awful way to die.

"Darla do as he says, put it down." Brubaker was in her ear giving the order.

"In the shit sir? I'd rather not I'll be cleaning gunk out of my weapon for months."

"Throw it in the shit or I'm killing this guy and then the other prisoner you brought with you." Rolando smiled, everyone always assumed he was a prisoner as much as anyone else, it was the shackles, it tended to work in their favor.

"Yeah also unshackle me you bitch, thank you man, you're saving my life they thought I knew you so they drug me down here." Darla dropped her rifle into the waste and it splooshed down, Rolando couldn't see her mouth but he knew she was very sad she had to do that. She produced the key to his shackles and unhooked them, she handed him a syringe as she did.

"Whoa whoa whoa, I said drop the gun I didn't say..." The bleeder was halfway through what he was saying when Rolando injected him with the sedative causing him and Wize to fall into the shit water.

"Couldn't have gotten him off me first Rolando? Prick now I'm covered in this, I'll smell like it for a week."

"Look I'm just glad it worked, that dose was his original weight, looks to have gained some pounds since his last incarceration." Rolando picked up the unconcious prisoner and Darla retrieved her weapon.

"He's all yours lieutenant, I'm going to have to work to clean my gun."

"Gee you guys always leave me the nice jobs." Rolando hefted the soaking man on to his shoulder and they made their way out of the waste compartment. At the exit they were met by Brubaker and a couple more guardsmen, who were wearing decontamination outfits.

"Glad you idiots stopped screwing around long enough to actually capture the prisoner." The three shit soaked hounds gave Brubaker the finger and left to find a shower.

"I hate everyday assholes." Darla said to the other two and they nodded their agreement.

Meet the Hounds

"No more ghosts to chase today Rolando?" Captain Brubaker was a big stocky man, he had to duck under most of the stations hallways due to his height, and the narrower parts of that station might as well have been off limits to him. It wasn't all muscle, over the years age and eating had taken it's toll on his frame. He was seated in a small conference room of Rim station, addressing his squad, there were three of them. Charged with retrieving rogue magic users and dealing with whatever magical problems spring up on the rim. It was an understaffed group, they could have four times the number of men they had and still not be able to respond to all the problems, but the Guard didn't see it as a priority and the funding wasn't there, it was never there. All the same Brubaker was proud of the people under his charge, an oddball assortment of the cast off variety.

"No sir." Rolando Lorentino was his most dangerous, the only one who wore the shackles while walking around. It wasn't against the law to be magical, but it was controlled. For most people that meant registering and living in a sanctuary, a safe place for magical users so they could be free with their abilities without the fear of the outside world. Rolando was different, he was a shifter, someone who could by the force of his magical ability, teleport from one place to another. A dangerous ability that lead to madness from corruption and with the madness came untold of destruction. That was one reason Rolando was on the rim, the Guard didn't know what to do with him and sending him where people weren't seemed like the optimal idea.

"It's ok Rolando, I too believe in ghosts, one time I even had a relationship with one." Wize was the tech specialist and mechanic, he was a short squat kind of guy, good with tools, lousy with people. He broke his last commanding officer's jaw during a budget dispute and off to the rim he was shipped. Brubaker was very happy he it would take a small ladder for Wize to try and hit him in the mouth.

"Are you telling me the only woman who could put up with you is one that's not alive?" Darla was the groups sergeant at arms and weapon specialist. She was of average height and weight, Brubaker never got why she got sent to the Rim, something about politics, she was some Senator's relation, that was all he'd gotten. He figured she was an action junkie and the idea of polishing rifles in the central authority was not what she wanted and so off to the rim she went, to polish rifles in the ass end of no where.

"Quiet you monkeys! Rolando had a good hunch, and we did check the ship Valrym arrived on and it did indeed have another passenger, so it might have been the Trezlan Lorentino, I doubt it, much like Rolando I'm pretty sure his dad is not the actual one, but someone who took that identity, just like all the other assholes we run into out here." Rolando nodded.

"Yeah dear old dad never struck me as the thousand year old type from what I remember of him as a child."

"All the same, lets get down to business, we have a very interesting set of targets and I'm sure you'll all not grown when I mention they are all highly dangerous." They all groaned and Brubaker smiled, yeah his team may not be very big, or very highly regarded by command, but they were still his guys and that was enough for him.

Welcome Back

"Go Away." The man was in his early thirties, he was wearing a royal purple uniform with various patches denoting squad and rank. From the marking it was easy to see he was in the hounds, and his rank was lieutenant. On the right side of his chest was the name tag, Lorentino. He was unarmed and walking briskly through the station's corridor, around his wrists were a pair of shackles he was not escorted by anyone denoting him as a prisoner. He was being pursued by a shorter man balding with long hair and a beard that fell to his waist.

"You've got to listen to me." The hallway was dimly lit as it was after normal operating hours for the station, no one else was around just the two men.

"I don't have to listen to you, I have listened to you several times over several years and every time the answer is the same, no." The station was in deep space, the rim of the Ronerawth Imperium's holdings, known simply as the rim. The station by matter of business was Rim Station, a last chance outpost of military power with a small section of imperial guardsmen.

"Rolando your father..."

"Is a bad man, and unless you're telling me he's here and willing to be arrested and taken to sanctuary this conversation is over, just like it's been over the previous times, enjoy your time on Rim station, do not come back if this is all you're here for." The younger man walked off and the shorter one let him go the conversation played out exactly as it had in the past several times. The short man let him go cursing under his breath that he had not listened. He waited in the dimly lit hallway until a taller darker skinned man appeared behind him, he was dressed in a pair of coverall's the type that a maintenance person might wear.

"Well at least you tried."

"I believe he means to avoid us Trezlan." Trezlan smiled at the shorter man.

"Well of course he does, head strong, always was got it from his mother." The short man smiled in return.

"Of course its not like you'd ever do things in opposition to whatever anyone else is counseling to the contrary."

"Nope Val never done that, not once in my ever long life. Now sadly lets go before he decides to come back and check to make sure I'm not in attendance, Rolando was always a very smart boy." The two men turned around and walked down the corridor and wisely so, the younger man did come charging back that way a couple minutes later a couple other guardsmen in tow.

*Authors note going to shake things up a bit, I'll explain more as we go along naturally. I have to admit I wrote myself into a corner with Trezlan, and the world he inhabits, he's still around naturally as this entry will highlight, but instead we'll switch from the journal style (for the most part I'll still slip a Trezlan entry in from time to time, I know me) to a more third person omniscient. I hope you my brave readers will stick with me, the three of you that still exist :-)

Fire Court

I was deposited by the giant man in the center of the court room. Things had changed, it went from the business hall to an arena of fire. The other gods were gone now and it was just the fire god in her full nakedly blazing form, I guess today was business casual? As soon as I was in there the giant ran out and the door slammed behind him, I was to say more than a little alarmed. She didn't say anything at first, instead she just looked me over, I tried not to stare. For a couple reasons really, I mean she was incredibly attractive, and she was covered in fire so I would go blind for a couple things.

"Shielding your eyes from something so beautiful Lorentino?"

"Didn't want to offend by gawking." She had her feet up at the front of the arena, her throne was a just a burning fire in the vague shape of a chair.

"So modest necromancer, so modest, willing to take a woman's life but not stare at her naked form, you people always amuse."

"I do have my standards." I don't actually have any standards.

"So you know why you're here, and you know the punishment for your disobedience is ordinarily annihilation."

"I don't know any of that at all, shouldn't there also be other gods here? You know the whole court thing?" She looked around with a smile.

"I sent them away, they are at best lesser gods at this point, at worse completely unnecessary, I am all the power this world needs now, and conflict is only getting stronger. No the issue I have, is with you, and Hanlon and this disgusting infection of death magic. Sure right now its just you and a couple other creatures that use it, but what of later? What if you spread your disease and death worship begins again? We put down this rebellion once, we can do it again. Or as I say, I can do it again." When she came to I, her eyes ignited in flames, which seemingly would make it hard to see.

"Well I personally won't teach anyone anything." She laughed, it was a hearty full throated laugh and more than a little alarming.

"Always the survivalist, always doing what you can to save yourself and extend your life, are you so afraid of the afterlife a place you have already seen, that you would do anything to avoid ending up there?"

"Well you know what they say stick with what you know, your afterlife was all killing and death, I'd prefer soft meadows and contentment." She descended from her throne and came to me amidst the burning arena.

"Poor Trezlan, always afraid of conflict yet constantly in it, I should destroy you, scatter you to the winds and unmake you forever, but you amuse me so much Trezlan, so instead I'll return you to your world. Do not return, do not tell people how to get here, and do not tempt me with your destruction, next time I will not be so lenient." And then I was back in my office just like that. A smell of smoke and fire in the air. Have to say it was one of my better days in court, at least the views were nice.

Prisons of The Gods

God prison is like regular prison, just iron bars, shitty food and nothing to do. I mean sure you are imprisoned in some realm between realms, but that isn't as exciting as you'd think. No to the contrary its rather boring. I mean all I could do was wait around and talk to Hanlon, and well talking to Hanlon while enlightening to an extent, was not exactly scintilating conversation.

"So what are you here for anyway?" It seemed like a valid enough question to the man who I had come to save, but instead got my own dumb ass self in trouble.

"Same thing you are basically, death magic, although in my case well its a lot bigger problem than yours." He looked bad, even for him. Like the suit was fine but the eyes were the window to misery.

"You're not a necromancer though, I don't see any of the usual signs on you at all."

"Trezlan when you eventually figure out what I really am, you'll feel really stupid." I think Hanlon misunderstands what I want to figure out about him is very minimal. Like I know he's terrifying and dangerous and I don't want to know much more than that.

"I already feel really stupid, I should have just taken The Fire God's advice and let this one go."

"You don't follow anyones advice, its one of your nicer characteristics. You don't listen to anyone aside from yourself, and even with your mental illness that's an admirable trait."

"Thanks Hanlon that means a lot to me."

"Though I'll admit you're stupidity is a bit obnoxious willful ignorance is pretty dangerous and you have almost a religious devotion to being ignorant."

"And there it went, there goes my feeling good about what you told me." And so we stood in silence for a bit, until they came to get me to face the music. Well face the tribunal for the crimes of killing gods. Have to say didn't think that was an actual crime, which speaks again to my slavish devotion to ignorance.

Gods Damn You

"Here are the two assholes who have been waiting." I'll admit it wasn't my best introduction to a court of gods. For their part the court (which was made up of six gods with little placards indicating their godhood, it felt more like a city council meeting than one of powerful beings) reacted with boredom and little attention paid. The only person who seemingly cared was the Fire god who sat at the front of the room with the more extravagant position and chair (denoting her power in the council, apparently I was to learn she was effectively the only decision maker and the rest of the gods were their at her request because she needs little from them anymore).

"Approach and speak we will listen and decide if you should be annihilated." That was the god of the sea speaking, he was a short looking man who was balding, apparently sea worship had faded.

"I am here on behalf of..."

"Why didn't you annihilate me when my god died?" Valrym took over and was annoyed by his insistence in stepping up! We were there for Hanlon and not his petty bullshit! We were there for my petty bullshit err Hanlon, there for Hanlon.

"Valrym that is your name correct?" It was the Fire God speaking up, which left the other four gods to not care, like they literally just sat back apparently when she talked they stopped caring, "Valrym you were allowed to exist in the off chance people believed in your god again, they have not and we don't care enough to wipe you out. I mean does anyone care about whatever the earth god advocated?" She looked around the rest of the god's didn't seem to notice or even speak up, "There ok, I guess that's resolved right?"

"You just don't care enough to destroy me? Then why was I brought before you all those years ago?"

"I don't know Valrym I think we were bored that day? Look you want to become a problem we'll deal with you, just like we're dealing with Hanlon, which I can see by Trezlan's impatient stomping you clued him into." I was very upset Valrym had hijacked my meeting to talk about his stuff, it was upsetting I was upset.

"Yes I'd love to discuss..." I started in my speech and the giant roughly grabbed me.

"And we'd love to discuss with you about your dangerous use of necromancy and god killing, but first Mr. Lorentino we will be imprisoning you until we decided we want to have that conversation."

"YOU BASTARDS!!!" I got it off before I was drug out of the chamber and deposited in a cell, next to Hanlon, because hilarity.

"I assume this was your attempt to rescue me?" He had a smile on his face but from the look of him it was the first time in a while he was smiling.

"I was trying to defend you from the god's unjust imprisonment only to be unjustly imprisoned myself." He shrugged to himself, and thus I was imprisoned again, but the gods damned gods. Which I'll admit, is a new high for me for imprisonment.

Sitting On a Bench Learning things

"So they'll just keep us waiting forever?" I was kicking my feet trying to see how high I could get each one with a simple leg swing, it was super exciting.

"When I was here before they had me wait an entire week, and then one person simply came out and told me I was free to go. I didn't even get to see any of the reasoning, they just said 'leave you will not be destroyed' it was liberating and infuriating."

"I see, now I'm starting to think you wanted to come up here to ask them about why they didn't destroy you." I almost knocked myself over with that kick, I had to put my hands down to stabilize myself, which got a chuckle out of Val.

"It was on my mind actually yes."

"Fantastic now I don't feel half as bad about asking you up here." I didn't actually feel bad at all, but you know you say things to make people feel better about your completely selfish notions. Ok I say those things I assume everyone else just isn't a jerk. See I admit it! It's all good! Sort of... DONT JUDGE ME!!!

"You know they can probably just as likely kill us as even listen to us? Coming up here is a major transgression."

"Well I know that now Val thanks for telling me."

"I told you before we even left you didn't listen!"

"Look just lets wait in silence I can't listen to you anymore." He harumphed and I went back to swinging my feet. At least I learned Val was a selfish person who was doing this for his own reasons and he totally did not tell me four times prior that coming up here could lead to us being killed. Nope entirely new revelations he just told me. Anyway, we eventually got to see the people behind the whole thing, it just took what felt like (and actually was) an entire day of waiting, because the gods, are assholes. Which makes sense because people are assholes and we kind of created these beings somehow, maybe? I dunno my world is weird ok.

So Exciting!

The throne of the gods is an interesting place. I mean technically it doesn't actually exist in one place at any time, so its not like you can easily return here (hence all that complicated stuff I detailed last entry, I mean the frog juice alone, who knew you could juice a frog?) It was also kind of plain looking. Just stone walls not a lot of frills, didn't see a lot of servants or familiars or anything, it was very much a boring place, which made sense the god's all had more interesting places to hang out, why make their gathering place something fantastical? If anything it could serve as a way of keeping people out "don't got to the throne, it's boring". I won't get into of course that this is for the pantheon of gods in the land that I live in yada yada yada.We were greeted by a towering giant outside the chambers where the god's could be heard arguing. He looked at me and Valrym with a snarl.

"Avatar you are not welcome here, and this one is certainly not welcome here, God Killer." I was taken a back, I mean sure I'd killed some gods, but its not like they hadn't come back for the most part...

"I'm here to defend Hanlon!" Valrym wanted to be literally anywhere else, but me this was exactly where I wanted to be.

"Defend who?" The giant looked confused, which was funny on something with such a huge face, just imagine it yourself and you're already laughing.

"Hanlon, dark suit gun dealer he's currently been erased from everyone's mind?" I wanted to speak with his supervisor or something, he didn't appear to know anything and I didn't have all the time in the world to wait for him to figure it out.

"Oh right that guy, you're here to defend him?" The giant laughed a big belly aching laugh, "Of course you are, one moment let me get someone to help you just have a seat." There was a stone bench nearby and Val and I took a seat.

"So this will be pretty fast yeah?" I asked of Valrym who shrugged his shoulders.

"I dunno last time I was here they were deciding on if they wanted to destroy me or not."

"Oh how'd that work out?"

"I'm a bartender in a shitty city on a river."

"So well?" Val harumphed and we waited. And waited, and waited. Apparently in god's terms "fast" is within a freaking year of arrival!

Not Very Judicial

"He's currently being held up by the gods Trezlan." Valrym had actually come to me to tell me this, it was as surprising as was his statement. I was in my office just relaxing after a hard day of doing absolutely nothing (look I'd given up the Fire God was my one play that was it I was done). I don't know why he came by other than he was worried about what I'd do.

"At least you remember the man!"

"Of course I do, the bigger question is why you remember him, but I guess that's just a symptom of you being you. This is it, this is all I'm doing, I smelled the Fire God in the air and I knew you'd do something stupider after she failed to help you, so I decided to head this off at the past and now you know, Hanlon is detained by Gods, there now you can stop."

"Well now I know what I have to do." I got up and started gathering various knick knacks and other objects of questionable usefulness.

"Go on a bender? Forget he was ever an anything for you?"

"No Val I must go to the God's themselves and make a case for Hanlon!" This seemed impossible on several fronts, but you know me the impossible is just something people tell me to keep from doing something.

"This is a horrible idea and I'm..."

"Coming with me! You're my in since you were/are/whatever a god and I need someone to get me in with this group of religious wackery!" Valrym did not want to come with me, but he knew if he didn't I would devise a dumber and more dangerous thing for him, so he decided it was in his best interest to come all the same. And so Val and I found our way to the throne of the gods! I'd tell you how, but apparently it's a damned secret and I'm not supposed to know about it. I know what a bag of dicks, anyway you get there by...

*page is burnt beyond recognition*

Of Course I didn't

I was sitting at a cafe when the Fire God showed up. She had ditched the suit for a red dress (always wearing red kind of cliche for a god!). She was smoking a fragrant cigar and distracting everyone else at the open air cafe (it was very very smelly, pleasant to me, but the looks on others told me maybe I had a connection that made it smell nicer? I dunno I didn't ask).

"Ms can you put that out?" The waiter had no idea who he just asked what he had asked in a way I felt extreme sympathy for him, but at the same time the idea of someone asking a god to do anything was amusing to me. She gave him a once over with her eyes that would have froze my blood.

"Micheal," He was not wearing a name tag so this unnerved him to start, "Those peons sent you instead of asking me personally because they are afraid of me, and they should be, in your little society women still don't have equal representation, we fight your wars, we birth your children, but you still want to lord your penis's over us, and when we dare do something for our own enjoyment like this fine cigar, you want us to put it out and go back to being invisible, Micheal I'm not going to be invisible, now go get your boss and tell him that mean woman wouldn't submit to his request and I'll sit here conversing with my associate." The waiter ran and she turned to me with a smile.

"I think you enjoy being a god a little too much."

"How can one enjoy being a god? I simply am, what I enjoy is pushing you little miscreants around when you dare talk back. Because everyone here has an interesting idea of power demographics. Take that couple in the corner, she's cheating on him with someone who makes more money, he knows and is planning on killing her, he will fail of course, but he still think he's the big bad man in their relationship, its delicious the kind of duplicitous nature of this place, there is conflict in everything."

"So I wanted to tell you in person..."

"No, you wanted to tell me no, you are forever concerned with your unnaturally long life span, and so while being my avatar would be blah blah blah, I know Trezlan, I merely offered to show you a way out of your own current miserable existence."

"I'm not miserable." She patted my hand and it almost felt like touching a stove.

"But of course you aren't you poor thing, you completely enjoy being lead around by the nose by powers you don't understand all the while they leverage against each other." She got up to leave just as the manager approached her, "When you want to change the game Trezlan call me."

"I don't have your number?"

"You do, just clap your hands." I didn't understand the reference or why she said it, she did put her cigar out on the managers hand which caused it to ignite and she walked off laughing. I myself left because being a known fire user who had been sitting with the Fire God I knew I'd be blamed for her transgressions. Ultimately this meaning while entertaining didn't get me anything, and I was no closer to finding out what happened to Hanlon, so a normal day for me. I swear the more I try the more I fail to actually accomplish things. It's almost an argument against trying all together!

Politics of The Avatar

"I always like these little visits Trezlan." The Fire God was in her red business suit, we were in the basement of my building, I'm sure a lesser idiot would forsee this as a deal with a dark force, and they wouldn't be wrong, just not exactly right. I always have to wonder if this is the real Fire God, or just one of her lesser forms that deal with me, I don't know how God's exactly work despite dealing with and killing several of them, what can I say I like a little ignorance.

"Sorry for calling you down here."

"No you aren't don't apologize for something you aren't actually apologetic over, your people have this disingenuous way of talking. You want my help, and you called me to ask it, there is nothing to be sorry for in that regard."

"Well then can you help me?"

"No." I slumped, of course she couldn't help me. I should have known the gods love to pretend to be there for their servants, but not actually there. They are like the worst father, always promising to lend assistance never doing it.

"You didn't even let me really ask the question." She smiled.

"If you did, do you think it would change my response? Hanlon is not my problem, your loyalty to him for whatever reason you still have it despite his abuse of you is also none of my concern."

"Well at least you acknowledge his existence everyone else seems to believe he does not exist."

"I've dealt with Hanlon, well that's what you call him to me he's not even a he, but as I was saying I've dealt with him for longer than you have been alive on this world, I could no more forget his existence than I could forget my own, but I would be willing to help you under one condition." I could feel a huge sense of dread for that condition.

"And that is?"

"Renounce your connection to death and instead embrace fire, become my avatar." I didn't exactly know what an Avatar of the fire god entailed, but I knew I did not really meet most of the criteria for it.

"Can I have a day to figure it out?"

"Sure, but only a day than I'll expect an answer, perhaps we'll meet in a nicer place next time, basements are so dreary." And with that she left. I was stuck with a choice, renouncing death would mean no more necromancy which could mean I would die, on the other hand, infused with the power of the fire god, perhaps I wouldn't need necromancy and thus feel better about myself. I totally forgot among this I was doing this to find Hanlon, and the Fire God while mostly honest, had no reason to honor her deal once I agreed to it (she's the god of war, not the god of making sure people do deals properly and a powerful god on top of that). But still it was a huge choice I still think back on and wonder if I did the right one... Did I? Well read on to the next entry and then curse me for leading you on.

Factories Are For Jerks

"Are you sure he works here?" The foreman was not being helpful at all. I didn't even say Hanlon worked there I said his freaking name was on the freaking building. I swear it was noisy, but it wasn't that noisy! We were even in his little hovel of an office, it smelled of earth and grease, I swear the last time it had been cleaned was the first time.

"He doesn't work here, he owns this place, you literally work for the man!"

"Who?"

"Hanlon? Gods damn it it's like I'm talking to myself."

"Sorry buddy can't help you, did you see the manager?" I was frustrated, flustered, upset, bothered! The man didn't want me in his office any longer he had "work" to do. What work could be more important than your owners is missing!

"He told me to see you!" And then I left. The factory was a dead end, there was no good there (well duh it was a weapons factory they just make things that kill). And Hanlon was not there at all. Hanlon as it turned out was not freaking anywhere. I looked around, I asked around, and oddly enough not only did people not have seen him, they couldn't even remember him existing. It was beginning to feel like I stepped into some weird alternate dimension in which Hanlon the person, the entity, the whatever he is, did not exist! I was running out of options, so as usual I took to ritual magic to see if I could summon someone who could answer me. No I didn't try and summon Hanlon, gods knows what you'd do to summon him and what would show up if you failed (that's the trick with rituals, screw it up and you'll get someone you didn't want at all!).

Thankfully I was successful, unfortunately who I called wasn't what I would call super helpful, she was at least pleasant. Well as pleasant as someone like her ever is. Next entry yada!

Nice To See You, Now My Problem

"Its just nice to see you back at work, you look good, well good enough you know you were always ugly." Val was doing his best to ignore me, I was doing my best to make that impossible, our usual dance back on for a new punch card. His bar was kind of empty, then again it was like really early in the morning, so early I don't even think he's open (it used to be back in the old days taverns could never really close because of the cold and travelers and such, modern times have changed this, but I'm lazy and still go off the old ways).

"What do you want to tell me about now? You only come here to lament something in your life or admit a crime, or ask me a question I have no way of answering, or involve me in a scheme that will get me hurt of feeling bad about myself sometimes both."

"You make it sound like I treat you badly."

"You do!"

"So anyway, Hanlon has something crazy going on with himself right now..."

"I knew it! I KNEW YOU ONLY WANTED TO BOTHER ME!" He was so happy, I swear it was the first time he looked happy since I came in. Which made me sad.

"You care about Hanlon you should totally care about this."

"I do not care about your weird associate, nor do I care he's going through a rough patch, I 'm sure with none of your help, he'll be feeling better in no time, just like I'll be feeling better when you aren't here."

"That hurts Val."

"Almost as much as the pins in my knee." I left the jerk, forgetting he's never actually helpful ever, and that when he is, its almost by accident instead of intentionally! Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a hold of Hanlon because he was mysteriously absent for a bit (imagine that he was going through something and he up and disappeared, as opposed to his normal not around when he doesn't need anything from me state of being). So I ended up at one of his factories hoping someone there could help me, which they couldn't but that's another story because you know my usual one scenario an entry and I already had the Val is a dick scenario!