The Last Sun Stars

"Understood sir, do you want us to move out? Yes sir, thank you sir, good luck sir." Carut signed off his communicator and looked at Therod and shrugged.

"What's going on?"

"They captured the Lorentinos, plant to trade them to Morlatech." Therod shook her head, it made sense to an extent, but it didn't make sense because it wouldn't fix the issue. Therod figured Morlatech would just as likely blow the Sun Stars out of the sky than deal with them. And that was assuming they survived the Lorentinos which was not a given.

"So they don't want us with them?"

"No they figure this will be resolved shortly, so you know what that means."

"Yeah we get to be the last Sun Stars." Carut smiled and leaned against the wall a little harder.

"Exactly, don't know what I'll do with my own mercenary company, but it's going to be awesome."

"Your company? Don't you mean my company?" Therod and Carut looked at each other for a bit and then both broke into smiles.

"Our company."

"Well first thing is we're going to need to recruit after the other Sun Stars get wiped out."

"Maybe a new name too, Sun Stars is redundant."

"Right? Yeah I was thinking Warrior Warriors." Therod shook her head visibly annoyed.

"Stop, just oh god stop."

"Or Shooting Marskmen..." Therod shuddered again, and knew this was the start of Carut bugging her with stupid names, it was going to be a long day.

Always Knew The Galaxy Would Screw Me

"Well this is the moment I knew we'd be in trouble." The doors to the warehouse were barricaded and welded shut from Trezlan's magic. Men were pounding on the outside, ever since Trezlan had attempted to buy his way off planet the planet had turned against him. Which didn't make any sense to him, since he figured they would all be dead anyway, whatever the Morlatech rep said otherwise.

"It wasn't when they said they'd kill everyone if we weren't turned over?" Rolando could in theory escape, even try and take Trezlan with him, but he didn't want to leave the people there to die, even if it meant his own life was taken instead.

"Nah its when greed failed, no one was greedy enough to just take my money! Who does that? Who doesn't want more money."

"People who want to be alive to spend it Dad." The door buckled again and then blew open, Trezlan readied himself for the horde of people coming in, but he was surprised to see a group of mercenaries holding people back.

"Mr. Lorentino? We're the Sun Stars, we're here to get you to safety." Trezlan smiled, he knew, he knew greed would win out. If he just said how much he was willing to spend someone would get word real money was to be made and he figured these Sun Stars, however dumb their name was, would be that group. It was only two hours later when both he and Rolando were in chains locked up in a cell that he knew he had been stupidly wrong again. Because he should have remembered everyone in the galaxy is an asshole.

Great I Didn't Want to Do Anything

Carut looked at the Morlatech rep message with bored indifference. Therod shrugged as well. Therod at least smiled on the idea of not watching over the shit factory because she was annihilated.

"You think they are serious?" Carut did not seem convinced.

"Probably, Lorentino is a dangerous man, and in the service it was mentioned he and Morley had a long standing grudge about what I have no idea, honestly I heard Morley isn't even alive anymore, probably just some kind of corporate policy in play and no one really even cares why."

"Well I'm so glad I'll die because someone doesn't question orders."

"Seems like the most likely reason for dying at anytime." Carut nodded.

"You think we should ask the Sun Stars if they'll pull us out?"

"Based on why we're here you probably know the answer to that." Carut nodded again.

"Might as well spend all my money this weekend, I'd hate to leave anything to any member of my family."

"I wouldn't, I only briefly met The Trezlan Lorentino, but I'm pretty sure he'll pull something out of his ass to keep himself alive, its like his one unique talent."

"I have no doubt he'll keep himself alive, I just haven't heard much about everyone else."

"Well there is that, so hit up a bar and then a Casino?"

"Soon as this shit shift is over."

Dismiss and Monitor

"Sir a fleet of Morlatech ships is broadcasting they are going to bombard a planet." Royal Imperial command looked like a planetarium, with a dome of various screens indicating conflicts or situations the military was monitoring. In the middle of it was head Guardsman Lucer. Lucer was particularly riveted by a screen of asteroid miners currently breaking in to what appeared to be some kind of jewelry encrusted lower cavity. The color spectrum was beyond anything Lucer had seen, he almost didn't even hear the young Lieutenant bleeting about Morlatech ships.

"What you'll have to repeat that."

"We are getting feed, Morlatech is going to wipe out an independent planet to kill Lorentino and his son." Lucer sighed.

"Does the planet have an agreement with us for defense?"

"No sir."

"Well lieutenant its nice of you to bring it up, dismiss and monitor."

"Sir?"

"Dismiss and monitor." Lucer hated owing Lorentino for anything, and if Morlatech was about to wipe him out well that was a shame, but the galaxy will keep going without him.

"Yes sir." Lucer returned to the screens, but was sad to see that whatever feed had focused on the miners was now elsewhere. Oh well he'd find something interesting in the galaxy, he generally did.

Obliteration Is not a Relaxing Moment

"Its nice to see you son." Rolando was shackled and chained up, he was also stripped for some reason. He was in what appeared to be some makeshift control room, the screen was not currently connected to anything.

"Dad they sent a fleet to kill us."

"A whole fleet? Man I knew Morley hated me, but I forgot he really hated me." Trezlan looked around the room for some kind of keys or something to free Rolando. He didn't see anything, he figured they must have been on Valrym before he got annihilated.

"You should be more worried."

"Nah I've got some time there isn't like a fleet in orbit, so we can leave before hand." Rolando looked visibly annoyed at that statement. His father had no regard for all the people who would be killed, he also felt a sudden burn on his wrists and near his shoulders as his father cut the chains off. It was painful, but he figured there was no other way. He would have liked a warning but in a previous rescue his dad had given him, he had received similar no warning before chains were cut, his dad believed surprise was better than anticipation of pain. Rolando disagreed, but it was a long battle lost.

"We can't just leave these people to die." Trezlan got a sour look on his face like dealing with a child who spilled something on the carpet.

"They won't blow the planet up if we aren't here Rolando." Rolando grew angry with his father, but let it go. He didn't know they wouldn't blow up the planet, but it wasn't for Rolando to question his father, he had just saved his life. They both left the facility and were immediately confronted with an announcement from Morley's warships.

"Citizens, if you see either of these two men, you have until Friday to turn them over, before you are annihilated with them." The feed then showed Trezlan and Rolando's faces with their last known wearabouts.

"Well shit." Trezlan sighed at the possibility of annihilation.

"Yeah I guess that will make it slightly harder to leave right dad?"

"Yes, son, yes it will."

Something Horrifically Wrong

Rem felt better the he had in a long time. Despite just getting shot and then healed right after, he was alive with energy in a way he didn't know was possible. It was like being high without the draw backs, but it was also not like being high, the energy wasn't as dizzying. He didn't know what it was in the magic he had eaten, but it zinged through him. He had left the necromancer behind even without payment he had more than enough. Whatever had just happened Rem knew something was radically different.

It took him a few minutes away from the building to realize he didn't have the thirst for magic anymore. It was just gone, he still felt he had the ability to manipulate magic, but didn't have the outright desire to do it. It was terrifying to Rem who had known the desire at a very young age no matter how destructive it had gotten in recent years, he didn't know what he would do with himself, but he knew things would never be the same.

****

"I have to wonder if this wasn't all a long game from you." Hanlon was seated across from the fire god for their game again, a neutral ground this time, the ruined remains of a civilization that had worshipped dead gods. The place amused both current gods as one that could eventually bring trouble, but wasn't at the moment. Like seeing a loaded gun near a play set, something bad was going to happen, but no kids were near by.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Of course not, its not like I don't have a connection to death magic, couldn't feel the strands of what happened to the poor godling and what it imbued the magic eater with. And I recall a time when that little creature was in your judgement court, to be annihilated with Trezlan, I wonder if you noticed it then, or did you always know." The fire god had a smile.

"Oh is Rem ok? I swear that little magic eater, did you know I brought him back to life? Yeah after he murdered his father he stuck his head in a furnace to burn it all off, I decided someone so remiss at killing their parent couldn't be all that bad."

"I'm aware you intruded on my domain yes." Hanlon didn't really care about the little ones being brought back, he'd done his fair share of interference, he just was surprised the Fire God cared, most of the time he felt she kept a distance from their worshippers.

"As to your first question, I always play the long game even when I'm losing I'm winning, so next time you feel I lost the red war, remember that. Also I believe you owe me for saving Trezlan's life. I know he's your puppet." Now it was Hanlon's time to smile.

"But of course your holy fire, and we always know I pay my debts."

"You do now, you didn't used to, Mr. Hanlon." They both smiled and the game continued without the universe knowing of its existence or the players.

Everything is Fine, If By Fine You Mean Screwed

The last of the morlatech bots fell to the ground completely unable to function. Trezlan hadn't even done anything, it was all Rem. The long haired unclean shaven man had simply walked near them and then flexed his hand, his magic eating ability did the rest. Trezlan had long suspected Morley's army was more than just machine and this confirmed it, though Rem did complain the mechanations had very little juice for his liking, which unsettled Trezlan yet again. All that remained was Valyrm, who was quite shocked to see the bots hit the ground.

"Impressive your depravity knows no bounds, signing on with a magic eater? Isn't that very much playing with fire for you Trezlan?" Trezlan smiled at the thought of burning Valrym alive.

"Rem here is about to eat you, where is my son?"

"Near by, I'm sad that you made me do this Trezlan, you just can't not be awful, can't you see that you're the real problem in this galaxy?"

"Rem kill this guy I don't even want to." Rem got a hungry look in his eyes and then nothing.

"I can't, he's not magic?"

"Correct, Trezlan is an idiot," Valrym drew a pistol and shot Rem, the bullet caught him in the shoulder and he hit the floor. He fired the rest of the ammunition at Trezlan, but Trezlan through up a fire shield and the bullets melted harmlessly in front of him.

"Just as well makes this harder on you, you little shit." Trezlan was about to unleash another torrent of fire when it felt like his insides were being ripped to shreds. He looked up to see Valrym stabbing himself.

"You know I never knew we had a link Trezlan, a remnant of your necromantic healing, like an open wound. And then one day you were having pain and I felt it, and I knew if I could harm myself, I could harm you, but I had to be within range of you, and that's how I'll kill you Trezlan, because you can't necromance your way out of me killing you." He had a smile on his face as he stabbed himself again. Trezlan was trying to think about what he could do, he could feel his life fading, he could in theory kill rem to heal himself, but if the link worked in reverse it would just heal Valrym as well. Trezlan was about to try that when Rem stood up next to him.

"You're not magical, that connection is." Trezlan never understood magic eaters, how they did what they did and what they got out of it. But he did understand necromancy and the bonds it made, so when he saw the magic eater break the bond by "eating" it, it released a torrent of energy. Pent up power from the latent connection between Trezlan Valrym bathed the room in a wash of latent power. Rem's bullet wound was healed, Valrym was annihilated. Years of benefiting from Trezlan's necromantic power had back flowed into him and destroyed the godling. Trezlan was about to ask how Rem was doing when Rolando called from the other room.

"If you idiots are done screwing around in there, we have a bigger problem."

"What could be bigger than someone wanting to kill me?" Trezlan didn't see Rem slip away, but he knew when he turned to look behind him, the magic eater would be gone, with whatever over dose he'd just gotten.

"An entire fleet of Morley warships are coming to vape the planet."

"Well shit you've got me son that is worse than what I just dealt with."