"Only two?" Devis was surprised that the imperial military thought so little of him. He had established a cult, killed several people, and was known on his planet as more than a little dangerous, and yet the government just sent two, it was an insult.
"Well this Lorentino fellow seems to be fairly nasty, I believe he might even be a shifter." Sand wasn't that fond of Devis, but he was a useful idiot, the kind of person Sand was find letting run the show while not actually running the show. Devis didn't even know how many cult member they had, let alone what all of them were doing. And that was fine with Sand, especially if the Imperial military was going to start looking for Devis.
"Should we send him a welcome? I think five or six men should be sufficient."
"More than sufficient sir." It wouldn't be, not to kill a shifter, but it would allow Sand to at least see the effectiveness of this lieutenant and the man he was bringing with him.
"Make the plans than Sand, I have work elsewhere." What work Devis had was probably debauchery. To Sand it appeared all Devis ever did was drink and screw, how he became a cult leader was almost mystifying with how stupid he was. Sand was already imagining what he would do with the Cult with Devis in shackles somewhere, all kinds of ideas.
****
"You think they'll send someone to greet us?" Lorentino was very chatty, which was a change from Barker who never said anything, Kyriac was kind of half way on whether it was a good change or a bad one.
"The cultists?"
"No no, the planet, I'm sure the cultists will send someone, but we are the first reps from the Imperial government to visit Ril in about two years, I wonder if they'll send a welcoming party."
"Pretty sure if its been two years since we were here Rolando what they'll send us will not be a welcoming party." Kyriac was sure of it, most of the planets outside the core worlds of the imperial government weren't fond of being a part of it.
"Well make sure you have a round in the chamber and you're wearing body armor, I think today will probably be a long day." The shuttle was nearing the pad and Kyriac nodded, though the idea of a round in the chamber with an energy weapon was a bit ridiculous he let that one slide.
Friday, October 9, 2015
Thursday, October 8, 2015
And Now You Owe Me
Simon didn't want to return to work. Ever since she'd been freed from her captivity she didn't feel up to investigating anything. She sat at her desk, looking at her computer's monitor in a bit of a fugue. No one said anything bad to her, nor did anyone imply anything bad about her, but she couldn't shake the feeling everyone was talking about her behind her back. That people were whispering about her connection to the dangerous Trezlan Lorentino. How had he found her? What did he want for freeing her? He hadn't said. He just let her go and didn't speak at all. Which just left Simon wondering what if anything he would eventually come for. So it didn't come as a huge surprise when her first call of the day was Trezlan Lorentino.
"You can't call me here." Simon was terrified, it was a video call everyone could see him if they came by.
"I can call you wherever I want Simon, I own you."
"You don't own me."
"I believe differently Detective, if not for me you'd be dead or worse, I saved you, I did not do it out of the kindness of my heart." His voice was cold and demanding, the kind of authority you use when you know the other person can't say no.
"What do you want?"
"Nothing, for now, but know this Simon, you're now mine, and in time I'll collect." The feed winked out and Simon cursed her rotten luck. She had never been dirty, but now because of that damned necromancer she was effectively dirty. She sighed and just sat in stunned silence not knowing what to do, which is probably what Trezlan Lorentino wanted.
***
"You are never going to ask for that woman's help are you?" Valrym had come back from wherever he went without Trezlan, Trezlan never asked because Val never asked what he did by himself either.
"Nope, I mean never say never, but eh what good is a detective to me on a planet I probably won't go back to? This is more just me screwing with someone because I can."
"You're so awful."
"Thank you Val, now on to that arms deal..."
"You can't call me here." Simon was terrified, it was a video call everyone could see him if they came by.
"I can call you wherever I want Simon, I own you."
"You don't own me."
"I believe differently Detective, if not for me you'd be dead or worse, I saved you, I did not do it out of the kindness of my heart." His voice was cold and demanding, the kind of authority you use when you know the other person can't say no.
"What do you want?"
"Nothing, for now, but know this Simon, you're now mine, and in time I'll collect." The feed winked out and Simon cursed her rotten luck. She had never been dirty, but now because of that damned necromancer she was effectively dirty. She sighed and just sat in stunned silence not knowing what to do, which is probably what Trezlan Lorentino wanted.
***
"You are never going to ask for that woman's help are you?" Valrym had come back from wherever he went without Trezlan, Trezlan never asked because Val never asked what he did by himself either.
"Nope, I mean never say never, but eh what good is a detective to me on a planet I probably won't go back to? This is more just me screwing with someone because I can."
"You're so awful."
"Thank you Val, now on to that arms deal..."
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Just Like That
"I'm still confused how you went from being in actual prison to being in charge of our unit." Kyriac was walking alongside Rolando. They had been assigned to go track down a loose magical, this one was not exactly on the Rim, but close enough to be Rimish. Rolando wasn't even shackled anymore, they had "taken him off the chain" as the Imperial guard said when they unlocked him from holding.
"I charmed them with all the nice things I've done for Empire."
"Bullshit, you saved the emperor and got locked up, I doubt almost getting blown up by Barker would suddenly change things." Rolando shrugged.
"Look I can't tell you why the Empire does these things, maybe they realized keeping me locked up just put the Empire in danger, the best place for me is working." It made sense to Rolando, not so much to Kyriac.
"So who are we after?" Kyriac didn't have much of a feeling with the young Lieutenant, he had proven himself obstinate, and he was a Lorentino which was another layer of danger, but his record was fairly clean and he'd taken down several magical people in the past. Which could play into him being a plant for his father, helping the elder Lorentino by removing problems, but despite several inquiries to the matter the Imperial Military had found no evidence of that. Kyriac remained unconvinced but Rolando outranked him and he did follow orders even if they were by people he didn't trust.
"A bad man Sergeant, a bad man." They loaded into the shuttle and Rolando sat in the back and closed his eyes. Kyriac sighed and called up the information on the target, a Simon Trents, and as Rolando had said, he was indeed a bad man.
"I charmed them with all the nice things I've done for Empire."
"Bullshit, you saved the emperor and got locked up, I doubt almost getting blown up by Barker would suddenly change things." Rolando shrugged.
"Look I can't tell you why the Empire does these things, maybe they realized keeping me locked up just put the Empire in danger, the best place for me is working." It made sense to Rolando, not so much to Kyriac.
"So who are we after?" Kyriac didn't have much of a feeling with the young Lieutenant, he had proven himself obstinate, and he was a Lorentino which was another layer of danger, but his record was fairly clean and he'd taken down several magical people in the past. Which could play into him being a plant for his father, helping the elder Lorentino by removing problems, but despite several inquiries to the matter the Imperial Military had found no evidence of that. Kyriac remained unconvinced but Rolando outranked him and he did follow orders even if they were by people he didn't trust.
"A bad man Sergeant, a bad man." They loaded into the shuttle and Rolando sat in the back and closed his eyes. Kyriac sighed and called up the information on the target, a Simon Trents, and as Rolando had said, he was indeed a bad man.
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Legal As the Day is Long
The Lyn family was dead, Vitor knew it. He knew it the second that Barker's lifeless body was found on a shuttle port. He knew it the second his perimeter sentry went dark and the rest of his family started dying. The emperor had sent one man, and that's all it took, one stupid sin was wiping out his whole family and all Lyn could do was sit there and stew about how Trezlan maneuvered him and then wiped him out. He recalled a conversation once with an associate to never underestimate the Lorentinos, never be at odds with the weapon dealer. But that was a memory he'd rather forget as he waited for the sin.
There were four of them in the room watching the only door inside. Body armor and high tech weaponry spread among them. The door went red for a brief moment and exploded, they all opened fire, just dumping round after round into the hall. Their guns ran dry and the hallway was filled with smoke and shrapnel. Six shots answered the din of gun fire and after it was all done but Lyn was left standing and his weapon was rendered inoperable. The one eyed assassin emerged his robotic eye surveying the damage.
"Kill me." Lyn did not want a speech from this stone faced killer.
"Not my choice." The man withdrew a communication device and the emperor in his naked glory was suddenly in the room.
"Vitor Lyn, I see my assassin reached you, I guess he's slightly better than yours."
"MINE SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU!"
"Either way Vitor, I just wanted to let you know I beat you, Mr. Dubois if you please." Dubois fired two more bullets and Vitor was dead, his exploded head laid amongst his men.
"The empire will cover my expenses."
"As always Mr. Dubois we pay our debts and thank you for your service."
"There is one thing else Emperor."
"And that is?" The emperor was slightly annoyed with Dubois, he did not expect this man of little words to speak so much.
"A matter about a lieutenant Lorentino..."
There were four of them in the room watching the only door inside. Body armor and high tech weaponry spread among them. The door went red for a brief moment and exploded, they all opened fire, just dumping round after round into the hall. Their guns ran dry and the hallway was filled with smoke and shrapnel. Six shots answered the din of gun fire and after it was all done but Lyn was left standing and his weapon was rendered inoperable. The one eyed assassin emerged his robotic eye surveying the damage.
"Kill me." Lyn did not want a speech from this stone faced killer.
"Not my choice." The man withdrew a communication device and the emperor in his naked glory was suddenly in the room.
"Vitor Lyn, I see my assassin reached you, I guess he's slightly better than yours."
"MINE SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU!"
"Either way Vitor, I just wanted to let you know I beat you, Mr. Dubois if you please." Dubois fired two more bullets and Vitor was dead, his exploded head laid amongst his men.
"The empire will cover my expenses."
"As always Mr. Dubois we pay our debts and thank you for your service."
"There is one thing else Emperor."
"And that is?" The emperor was slightly annoyed with Dubois, he did not expect this man of little words to speak so much.
"A matter about a lieutenant Lorentino..."
Monday, October 5, 2015
Nice Try
Barker loaded into the shuttle with fear. He had been told to kill both Lorentinos, he had failed at that. Lyn would not be happy, but he'd have to smooth that over. He was also burnt with the Imperial military, he knew blowing up a hospital was dangerous, but he was sure he could have at least killed Rolando, but that damned shifter avoided it without issue like he had avoided the shuttle bomb. Barker's own injuries were pretty severe, space travel was probably not in his best interest, but he had to get out of town.
"Good evening Mr. Barker." Barker had heard the voice before, he knew it was Lorentino, he was going to go for his gun when he felt his body seize up. "Yes your ability to fight back has been compromised, maybe in the next life you'll look at your seat before you sit down."
"You bastard."
"Come come, how dare you insult me after you turned your back on your government and attempted to kill me and my son, nice attempt, I'll wonder for years how you found I was at that cafe, but not too much." The ritual Trezlan had invoked was pulling what little life Barker had in him out, agonizingly slow.
"I can make a deal."
"You have nothing I want, nothing anyone wants, and soon enough your employer will find he too has nothing anyone wants either." Dubois had already left to kill Lyn, said he'd take care of it personally, which left Trezlan to deal with Barker and get off planet before Rolando caught up with him.
"Information..." Barkers pain was exceptional at this point, Trezlan had been in his place once, and it sucked.
"Nothing I don't know, Mr. Barker please you're a cog not the machine." Trezlan pulled the strand of magic attaching himself to Barker and he died with a thump. Trezlan dumped the body outside of the shuttle and motioned to the pilot it was time to leave, he was done helping his son for now.
"Good evening Mr. Barker." Barker had heard the voice before, he knew it was Lorentino, he was going to go for his gun when he felt his body seize up. "Yes your ability to fight back has been compromised, maybe in the next life you'll look at your seat before you sit down."
"You bastard."
"Come come, how dare you insult me after you turned your back on your government and attempted to kill me and my son, nice attempt, I'll wonder for years how you found I was at that cafe, but not too much." The ritual Trezlan had invoked was pulling what little life Barker had in him out, agonizingly slow.
"I can make a deal."
"You have nothing I want, nothing anyone wants, and soon enough your employer will find he too has nothing anyone wants either." Dubois had already left to kill Lyn, said he'd take care of it personally, which left Trezlan to deal with Barker and get off planet before Rolando caught up with him.
"Information..." Barkers pain was exceptional at this point, Trezlan had been in his place once, and it sucked.
"Nothing I don't know, Mr. Barker please you're a cog not the machine." Trezlan pulled the strand of magic attaching himself to Barker and he died with a thump. Trezlan dumped the body outside of the shuttle and motioned to the pilot it was time to leave, he was done helping his son for now.
Friday, October 2, 2015
Well At Least They Can Get Treated
The hospital was a warzone. The imperial military was attempting to fight back, but the gun thugs that the bomber had hired were of sufficiently good quality and they had hit fairly fast leaving the men guarding Barker unprepared to say the least. There were only two of them left now, and they were calling for help for anyone who could listen. Rolando arrived just as another squad got there, the cab driver he had called up took off immediately, Rolando couldn't blame him.
"What's the situation here?" The sergeant in charge looked visibly relieved when Rolando showed up, he was surprised no one else from command was there, or even contacting this squad they were in the middle of the freaking city.
"No clue sir, something's jamming coms and our transport station was attacked earlier all but one shuttle was blown up." It was shocking to Rolando how brazen Lyn was being, then again the man did try and kill the emperor.
"Well I'm here now, how many men do you have?"
"Six sir, but two are hurt, we have reports of at least ten men inside the hospital, and supposedly two of barkers men are pinned down, but holding, we have no confirmation of that." Rolando was so angry at how things had turned out, he could feel it boiling up in his blood. This brazen attempt on an imperial officer was going to be put down, and hard, Rolando would see to that personally.
"Pull back your men, make sure no one gets out."
"Yes sir, do you need a weapon?" The sergeant seemed even more relieved.
"Nah shifting tends to break anything that's more modern than what I carry, thanks for the suggestion." Rolando had a twelve round pistol and knife, both were owned by his mother and she used them effectively. He'd tried to use more modern weaponry, but they never survived past a couple shifts and an unreliable weapon was dangerous in a combat zone. Rolando snagged a loud speaker the sergeant had been using to order his men, and walked toward where the gun thugs had taken up in front of the hospital.
"You have five seconds to turn down your arms and turn yourself in the Imperial military can promise favorable sentencing for anyone who gives up now?" The laughter followed by gun fire was everything Rolando expected. He shifted behind the men at the counter, they never even noticed he was there until he fired the first shot. There were three of them there, wearing modified body armor, Rolando shot the man to his immediate right through the back of his head the bullet exiting out his jaw. He shifted again to another man and slit his throat, and fired another fatal shot at the surviving member, this one hit the man below his eye. He heard more fun fire up the hall way and moved up the stairs, There was a weird sense for Rolando, he didn't feel the corruption, even though with three rapid fire shifts he should have been feeling a bit more pressure, instead he felt better than he had in a while, even the bruises from the explosion earlier which had been bothering him weren't anymore. He tried not to concern himself with what was going on though he had to save barker.
Up the stairs was four more men, they had pinned down Barkers group and were about to advance when he showed up. He didn't even have to shift, the gun thugs had their backs to him and so he just them all like his old target back with Trezlan. When the last man fell he felt a zing of power through his hand and it terrified him, something was wrong, Trezlan had done something to him, he knew it now, and whatever it was, was bad.
"Weapon down!" It was order from the shorter Sergeant Kyriac.
"It's me you're safe." Kyriac visibly breathed a sigh of relief at seeing it was in fact Lorentino.
"Thank the gods, I was shocked as anyone when these assholes showed up, where is support?"
"Blown up at the transport field, I don't know where the bomber is though, how's Barker?"
"Isn't he with you?"
"No? He was supposed to be at the hospital?"
"No we were guarding a young lieutenant who was near the shuttle when it blew up." Rolando was confused, he didn't recall another man on the shuttlepad other than Barker and himself, the pilots were dead on explosion. He rushed to the door just in time to see the very large bomb in the bed, grabbing Kyriac and the other mans hand's he shifted again, this time back to the office just in time for the hospital and the grounds around it to be annihilated.
"What's the situation here?" The sergeant in charge looked visibly relieved when Rolando showed up, he was surprised no one else from command was there, or even contacting this squad they were in the middle of the freaking city.
"No clue sir, something's jamming coms and our transport station was attacked earlier all but one shuttle was blown up." It was shocking to Rolando how brazen Lyn was being, then again the man did try and kill the emperor.
"Well I'm here now, how many men do you have?"
"Six sir, but two are hurt, we have reports of at least ten men inside the hospital, and supposedly two of barkers men are pinned down, but holding, we have no confirmation of that." Rolando was so angry at how things had turned out, he could feel it boiling up in his blood. This brazen attempt on an imperial officer was going to be put down, and hard, Rolando would see to that personally.
"Pull back your men, make sure no one gets out."
"Yes sir, do you need a weapon?" The sergeant seemed even more relieved.
"Nah shifting tends to break anything that's more modern than what I carry, thanks for the suggestion." Rolando had a twelve round pistol and knife, both were owned by his mother and she used them effectively. He'd tried to use more modern weaponry, but they never survived past a couple shifts and an unreliable weapon was dangerous in a combat zone. Rolando snagged a loud speaker the sergeant had been using to order his men, and walked toward where the gun thugs had taken up in front of the hospital.
"You have five seconds to turn down your arms and turn yourself in the Imperial military can promise favorable sentencing for anyone who gives up now?" The laughter followed by gun fire was everything Rolando expected. He shifted behind the men at the counter, they never even noticed he was there until he fired the first shot. There were three of them there, wearing modified body armor, Rolando shot the man to his immediate right through the back of his head the bullet exiting out his jaw. He shifted again to another man and slit his throat, and fired another fatal shot at the surviving member, this one hit the man below his eye. He heard more fun fire up the hall way and moved up the stairs, There was a weird sense for Rolando, he didn't feel the corruption, even though with three rapid fire shifts he should have been feeling a bit more pressure, instead he felt better than he had in a while, even the bruises from the explosion earlier which had been bothering him weren't anymore. He tried not to concern himself with what was going on though he had to save barker.
Up the stairs was four more men, they had pinned down Barkers group and were about to advance when he showed up. He didn't even have to shift, the gun thugs had their backs to him and so he just them all like his old target back with Trezlan. When the last man fell he felt a zing of power through his hand and it terrified him, something was wrong, Trezlan had done something to him, he knew it now, and whatever it was, was bad.
"Weapon down!" It was order from the shorter Sergeant Kyriac.
"It's me you're safe." Kyriac visibly breathed a sigh of relief at seeing it was in fact Lorentino.
"Thank the gods, I was shocked as anyone when these assholes showed up, where is support?"
"Blown up at the transport field, I don't know where the bomber is though, how's Barker?"
"Isn't he with you?"
"No? He was supposed to be at the hospital?"
"No we were guarding a young lieutenant who was near the shuttle when it blew up." Rolando was confused, he didn't recall another man on the shuttlepad other than Barker and himself, the pilots were dead on explosion. He rushed to the door just in time to see the very large bomb in the bed, grabbing Kyriac and the other mans hand's he shifted again, this time back to the office just in time for the hospital and the grounds around it to be annihilated.
Thursday, October 1, 2015
The Politics of Scum
Rolando was uncomfortable with the people around him. He never had an issue going into the areas of poverty, he'd had to do it several times on the Rim chasing after one random person or another. But the under city area that Dubois was walking through like it was just another day in the life was dingier and more awful than anything he'd seen on the Rim. It was probably due to the under city existing for a lot longer and having a more set in stone social structure of awful, than anything in any far colony. The people in the under city were sad people, they had that beaten down look that spoke volumes. Dubois at least knew where he was going, which was nice because it was definitely the kind of place where getting lost could get you dead.
"Gentleman." The two people in front of Dubois looked less like gentleman and more like the kind of people you'd accidentally bump into and regret having touched them.
"One eye is here, told you he'd come back." The shorter stockier one did all the talking, what Rolando could tell his name was slime.
"Right, gentleman I'm looking for a man works with the Lyn's likes to make bombs." The two looked between them like they knew, but didn't want to say what they knew.
"What do we get one eye?" Dubois didn't blink, he pulled his large pistol and primed the first shot.
"You get to live, at least for a day, ask again like I'd bother to pay either of you scum suckers and I'll come back down here personally to execute you for the insult." Mordere's weren't known for treating people with kindness, or even basic courtesy.
"Easy one eye know need to pull on us we're just trying to get by." Rolando understood the men's issue, his father had dealt with scummy people before, they didn't start out assholes, they learned that from their time amongst assholes.
"Well get by on someone else, my associate and I are on a limited timer, so the bomber.."
"Right right, yeah your bomber he came looking for some gun thugs earlier, anyone who could pull and not shit themselves, he was going to roll up on a hospital to off some lieutenant like your boy." Rolando immediately got worried, if the Lyn's thought they had put Rolando in the hospital and not Barker, Barker was in immediate danger and for the crime of simply being near Rolando.
"I'd say thank you, but neither of you earned it, tell anyone I was here and you'll never see the bullet that killed you." It seemed strange to tell two of the scummy shits not to alert anyone to their presence when just about everyone could see Rolando and Dubois, but clearly there was a power structure Dubois counted on. They were outside the undercity when Rolando turned to Dubois.
"You're not coming with me to the hosptial are you? That was all for show so that I save Barker and you get rid of me?"
"And Trezlan always thought you slow young Lorentino." Rolando sighed and let the assassin past him.
"How will I get to the hospital?" Dubois tossed him a com device, something cheap and possibly not even legal.
"Good luck Lieutenant I don't suspect we'll meet again." And so Dubois left to go kill Lyn as he had intended on before getting side tracked. Rolando set out for the hospital and a lot of people ended up dead, as was common in the world.
"Gentleman." The two people in front of Dubois looked less like gentleman and more like the kind of people you'd accidentally bump into and regret having touched them.
"One eye is here, told you he'd come back." The shorter stockier one did all the talking, what Rolando could tell his name was slime.
"Right, gentleman I'm looking for a man works with the Lyn's likes to make bombs." The two looked between them like they knew, but didn't want to say what they knew.
"What do we get one eye?" Dubois didn't blink, he pulled his large pistol and primed the first shot.
"You get to live, at least for a day, ask again like I'd bother to pay either of you scum suckers and I'll come back down here personally to execute you for the insult." Mordere's weren't known for treating people with kindness, or even basic courtesy.
"Easy one eye know need to pull on us we're just trying to get by." Rolando understood the men's issue, his father had dealt with scummy people before, they didn't start out assholes, they learned that from their time amongst assholes.
"Well get by on someone else, my associate and I are on a limited timer, so the bomber.."
"Right right, yeah your bomber he came looking for some gun thugs earlier, anyone who could pull and not shit themselves, he was going to roll up on a hospital to off some lieutenant like your boy." Rolando immediately got worried, if the Lyn's thought they had put Rolando in the hospital and not Barker, Barker was in immediate danger and for the crime of simply being near Rolando.
"I'd say thank you, but neither of you earned it, tell anyone I was here and you'll never see the bullet that killed you." It seemed strange to tell two of the scummy shits not to alert anyone to their presence when just about everyone could see Rolando and Dubois, but clearly there was a power structure Dubois counted on. They were outside the undercity when Rolando turned to Dubois.
"You're not coming with me to the hosptial are you? That was all for show so that I save Barker and you get rid of me?"
"And Trezlan always thought you slow young Lorentino." Rolando sighed and let the assassin past him.
"How will I get to the hospital?" Dubois tossed him a com device, something cheap and possibly not even legal.
"Good luck Lieutenant I don't suspect we'll meet again." And so Dubois left to go kill Lyn as he had intended on before getting side tracked. Rolando set out for the hospital and a lot of people ended up dead, as was common in the world.
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