Finale (Origin Story)
Recap: In the last installment, Quim and Lags the Eye was taken to Herzart of the Dead Lake Brood. Now faced with the reason to be on Trisk, Quim couldn't think of killing them man, he knew none of that even mattered anymore. Lags wanted him dead though, no doubt feeling like it would help buy some peace of mind. He was tossed a weapon and they both dueled, which ended in Lags' death and the shots that landed on Herzart didn't even seem to phase him.
Quim looked down at the corpse of his friend. He was now the last survivor of the mission and faced with his target, he could do nothing but stare and wonder to himself if this was worth the number of lives lost while carrying out their goal.
"We all came down here for one reason. To kill you and stop you from rallying troops so The Confederation could land ground forces to occupy your world." Quim's voice was a whisper. Unsure of why he felt the need to tell Herzart any of that; Confusion followed each word that built up the sentences.
"I was defending my planet from your invasion," Herzart stated, gurgling as he spoke, his exposed tongue dancing in his mouth like a worm-crawler diving in and out of the rotting flesh of an old corpse. "You defended it too well. The first fleet suffered many casualties in orbit and on the ground." Quim spoke continuing to stare at the still body of Lags. He was distracted then by Herzart's gesture to follow him. The Trisken turned and walked to the doorway behind him, which opened slowly to let even more flickering daylight into the room. Quim followed, giving Lags a wide berth.
He walked through the doorway and could feel the wind howling, but it wasn't cold, it was warm as it wrapped itself around his skin. He noticed stars in the sky and was confused, as he assumed it was daytime. "Your people have abandoned you. But, still, you came here." Herzart said as he presented Quim with the devastation below the mountain. As far as the eye could see there was fire, the ground was glowing with the fresh beams of glass that were spewed onto the planet from above. The once-still capital city was in utter ruins; derelict as it once was, it wasn't as broken as it was now.
"The Confederation swatted what was left of our fleet and then descended on our planet like animals presented with a fresh kill. They were never going to take it peacefully; this is the extent of the damage and it will be years before it can be rebuilt." Herzart managed to get out. Sadness wrapped around his words, which seemed to hurt him as they left what remained of his mouth. It was a struggle to listen to him speak, but, it was even harder to look out on the city and know that regardless of whether he and his men fulfilled their mission, this was most likely going to be the end result. "Your people weren't here to conquer, they were here to destroy. It took so long to build and only a few minutes to break. There is no reason for this."
"We were at Jex before coming here and their planet received the same treatment. What a waste." He replied, unsure of his place in all of this. "Why did you come here?" Herzart slurped. "I came because we were getting bored sitting aboard our ship. We thought we could help end this quickly. I was asked and I accepted the task." Feeling the heat from the distant fires felt nice, the smell of the smoke rising from the distance made it hard to breathe, but he took in every breath of it. "None of this would have happened if the Gnosians didn't start raiding our colonies," Quim said, almost trying to excuse the actions of The Confederation. But, excuses wouldn't bring back the ones he lost and they wouldn't take back the molten beams of light they spat from on high.
"Gnosia is in this same solar system, they are only two planets away, yet you are here." Quim nodded. "They abandoned their planet, there was nothing there based on the reports I saw." "Yes. I heard they retreated into dark space. Cowards."
The silence grew between the two of them, all they could do was look out over the old city and watch it burn. "Before the second fleet arrived, I ensured every Trisken unable to fight, fled. Every ship that could transport them was seized by the military. But, I don't think anywhere is safe from your Confederation."
"No, I don't think so either." He felt angry, although, not at Herzart. He felt angry about a lot of things, but being here beside the Trisken didn't fill him with rage like he assumed it would. In a way, he was sure that nothing he said would see him leaving this world alive, so he didn't feel the need to beg, grovel or repent the actions of his leaders. It's ugly, I don't excuse it or myself. He thought through the silence.
"They stopped the glassing runs. Have they sent any conditions of your surrender?" Herzart didn't answer the question, choosing the shake his head in response.
A growing ship could be seen, descending closer to the planet, it looked far too big to land. He couldn't make out the details of the ship, it was like there was a mist surrounding it which made it hard to see it in full. It hung in orbit ominously; waiting.
The two of them stared at the ship, it felt like it took hours, but, in actuality, they had only been looking at it for minutes. A part of the ship lit up, brighter than any other present light on it, and yet continued to grow brighter still. "Another glassing beam?" Herzart asked. Quim couldn't respond because if it was, it was different than any other he had seen before. "That's not Confederation tech." Was the only thing he could say.
Finally, the ship's canon grew so bright it was hard to look at without shielding his eyes, then a shriek could be heard. It was like it was coming from the sky, not just the direction of the ship, but from everywhere at once.
It deafened him momentarily, his left ear felt like it was covered in cloth and soon they started to ring as a response to the drowning waves of sound. A beam projected from the ship and landed somewhere far in the distance of the world, but it was silent. No noise came of it, where there should have been some kind of explosive blast. As hard as it was to stare at the blinding light, he continued to look at it. It seemed like the ozone was on fire, sparkling embers from the beam that penetrated it. A ghostly shock wave came from the distance, he braced for it to hit him and as it did it knocked him onto his back with the force of it. A blast louder than anything he'd ever heard hit his ears and soon everything was silent, he felt them and held some liquid spilling out of them. He knew his eardrums had burst from the noise. Whatever this weapon was, it wasn't a glassing beam.
He got to his knees and knew this was it, it didn't stop him from watching it though. Herzart didn't seem to be afraid of what they were doing. The mud and dirt and rock and concrete seemed to ripple in the distance like waves rolling toward the shoreline, it was like nothing he had ever seen before. They came so rapidly and soon reached the foot of the mountain, it was like everything solid was turned to liquid and soon it was climbing the mountain, scrambling up to them.
He started to sink into the once-solid ground underfoot and he could feel himself slipping through the loose grains of sand. For a moment he watched his legs disappear. They didn't sink, instead, it was as if they separated and pieces of them started to dance with the rest of the matter. It felt like it tickled and he couldn't help but laugh at the strange way the particles seemed to move as one.
