Post by kime on Jun 14, 2009 18:24:44 GMT -5
Day Five
“But this one… is a Legionary,” the sergeant said, gaping.
Captain Skye just shrugged. “Well noticed, sergeant.”
The wretched guard shifted uncomfortably. “I know sir, but the Arcadians… insist. They swear blind that he’s the one. Some of them even claim that they watched him wave his hands and make things explode or float through the air.”
“Even though I’m about as psionically proficient as a brick,” Skye added helpfully. He was sitting in the improvised cell’s only chair and appeared to be serenely calm. “And strictly speaking, I’m an Enforcer. I’m part of the Security Service, not the Legion directly. But I am Domarian.”
“I… but… we can’t be expected to…”
“Oh, don’t worry sergeant, I’ve already received orders from Command. We’ve lost good men here and for them to select me for death was the last straw. We’re all pulling out immediately and sending in… an alternative.”
The Renegade stopped, and stared at the shuttles as they evacuated the base en masse.
That wouldn’t do at all. He wanted to be the one to deal the death blow to the three Domarian elites responsible for his death.
Well… he’d gotten better. But it was the principle of the thing. And Skye must have left the planet a while ago. That was the problem with sticking to flesh- omniscience was harder to pull off.
“It's a sad thing, it really is. Our time has come to an end. I must leave this system and we'll just have to part ways. It kind of chokes me up a bit, you know?
“Well, not really. But hey, that's life, huh? Try your best to accomplish what you want to accomplish, and in the end nobody really cares about what you've done, only about what they've done themselves. Everyone will rush about on their little worlds, and the only attention they'll pay one another is if the other can somehow help him to accomplish something. With that kind of greed, it's no wonder we haven’t grown.
“But, I digress. Such a lecture makes for a poor farewell, and wasting time is the one thing I hate above all else. Allow me, then, to leave you with these few parting words. The High Council can not stop me. The Legion can not stop me. Nothing can truly stop me. I've felt the minor inconvenience that is the destruction of my physical body once before, and my power has only continued to grow. It will not be long before the whole of Alpha Sector buckles under the freedom of oblivion.
“And with that, I bid you farewell.” He began walking away.
Meadows blinked. “You’re not going to…? I mean…”
“Kill you? My dear, what’s the point? I trust you’ve recorded all my statements- they’ll net you a tidy profit from the media networks… but what’s more, they’ll spread my words across the galaxy. If I wanted to do that directly, it’d take far more energy than I’d care to expend.”
She shivered. She’d followed the madman around at his insistence, and she had indeed captured footage of some horrific things. Things that, nevertheless, would net her the mother of all exclusives.
Even faced with abominable power she was still a journalist, and she had questions. “Actually, I, uh, meant your Disciples, the crusades against the non-psychic…”
The Renegade whirled around- instantly. He didn’t even turn, he was just suddenly facing her again. “It was never about killing the ungifted, or the mundane, or the unpowered or whatever the hell you want to call them! When you get right down to it, you’re all mundane and ungifted and pointless. All of you. Hell, if anything psionors are even worse, because they have this delusion that they’re somehow better. Good luck to my 'followers', but they’re no disciples of mine. They’re their own cult now.”
“But do you really think you can just evade everything they send after you…?”
“Oh, something will catch up with me eventually. Entropy, probably. When the universe ends I’ll likely just let it take me with it. That would be a hell of a way to go out.”
“Do… do you have a name?”
“It’s Rend. Make sure to remember it.”
He vanished.
Officer Quotis looked at the ships returning to the Grandcruiser, and she looked at her display.
“They’re actually going to do it,” she breathed.
All the colour drained from Carb’s face- which was a feat considering how pale he was. He rarely encountered natural sunlight. “No. No, they’d never stand for it…”
“They’re welcome to cast their votes and shout at the Colonial Council until they make Command remove it… but maybe they want it. Maybe it’s for the best.”
“For the best?!”
“It’s the only way to be sure.”
Casualty report
Gnersh – Arcadian Military, a Soldier - obliterated by unspeakable psionic energies
Winners
Rend – the Renegade – successfully removed the Domarians from the planet
“But this one… is a Legionary,” the sergeant said, gaping.
Captain Skye just shrugged. “Well noticed, sergeant.”
The wretched guard shifted uncomfortably. “I know sir, but the Arcadians… insist. They swear blind that he’s the one. Some of them even claim that they watched him wave his hands and make things explode or float through the air.”
“Even though I’m about as psionically proficient as a brick,” Skye added helpfully. He was sitting in the improvised cell’s only chair and appeared to be serenely calm. “And strictly speaking, I’m an Enforcer. I’m part of the Security Service, not the Legion directly. But I am Domarian.”
“I… but… we can’t be expected to…”
“Oh, don’t worry sergeant, I’ve already received orders from Command. We’ve lost good men here and for them to select me for death was the last straw. We’re all pulling out immediately and sending in… an alternative.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Renegade stopped, and stared at the shuttles as they evacuated the base en masse.
That wouldn’t do at all. He wanted to be the one to deal the death blow to the three Domarian elites responsible for his death.
Well… he’d gotten better. But it was the principle of the thing. And Skye must have left the planet a while ago. That was the problem with sticking to flesh- omniscience was harder to pull off.
“It's a sad thing, it really is. Our time has come to an end. I must leave this system and we'll just have to part ways. It kind of chokes me up a bit, you know?
“Well, not really. But hey, that's life, huh? Try your best to accomplish what you want to accomplish, and in the end nobody really cares about what you've done, only about what they've done themselves. Everyone will rush about on their little worlds, and the only attention they'll pay one another is if the other can somehow help him to accomplish something. With that kind of greed, it's no wonder we haven’t grown.
“But, I digress. Such a lecture makes for a poor farewell, and wasting time is the one thing I hate above all else. Allow me, then, to leave you with these few parting words. The High Council can not stop me. The Legion can not stop me. Nothing can truly stop me. I've felt the minor inconvenience that is the destruction of my physical body once before, and my power has only continued to grow. It will not be long before the whole of Alpha Sector buckles under the freedom of oblivion.
“And with that, I bid you farewell.” He began walking away.
Meadows blinked. “You’re not going to…? I mean…”
“Kill you? My dear, what’s the point? I trust you’ve recorded all my statements- they’ll net you a tidy profit from the media networks… but what’s more, they’ll spread my words across the galaxy. If I wanted to do that directly, it’d take far more energy than I’d care to expend.”
She shivered. She’d followed the madman around at his insistence, and she had indeed captured footage of some horrific things. Things that, nevertheless, would net her the mother of all exclusives.
Even faced with abominable power she was still a journalist, and she had questions. “Actually, I, uh, meant your Disciples, the crusades against the non-psychic…”
The Renegade whirled around- instantly. He didn’t even turn, he was just suddenly facing her again. “It was never about killing the ungifted, or the mundane, or the unpowered or whatever the hell you want to call them! When you get right down to it, you’re all mundane and ungifted and pointless. All of you. Hell, if anything psionors are even worse, because they have this delusion that they’re somehow better. Good luck to my 'followers', but they’re no disciples of mine. They’re their own cult now.”
“But do you really think you can just evade everything they send after you…?”
“Oh, something will catch up with me eventually. Entropy, probably. When the universe ends I’ll likely just let it take me with it. That would be a hell of a way to go out.”
“Do… do you have a name?”
“It’s Rend. Make sure to remember it.”
He vanished.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Officer Quotis looked at the ships returning to the Grandcruiser, and she looked at her display.
“They’re actually going to do it,” she breathed.
All the colour drained from Carb’s face- which was a feat considering how pale he was. He rarely encountered natural sunlight. “No. No, they’d never stand for it…”
“They’re welcome to cast their votes and shout at the Colonial Council until they make Command remove it… but maybe they want it. Maybe it’s for the best.”
“For the best?!”
“It’s the only way to be sure.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Casualty report
Gnersh – Arcadian Military, a Soldier - obliterated by unspeakable psionic energies
Winners
Rend – the Renegade – successfully removed the Domarians from the planet