12-07-2016, 05:00 AM
Zedd was displeased.
All of these ridiculous creatures had run off, taking the other blue being with them. The Stormtroopers shifted uncomfortably, and a bit awkwardly. After all, behind them was a still screaming man inside a run-down hut, Graowr was missing, and Zedd was staring blankly at the open streets before them. If was difficult to get a read on the dark lord with his lack of facial expressions and stiff body posture, but they could sense his dissatisfaction easily enough.
“So, are we going to…” Knox hesitantly asked, pausing as he thought about what to say. Nothing articulate came to mind. “…go after them?”
“That blue glob of play-doh has mere minutes to bring them back to me,” Lord Zedd said, though admittedly with no contingency plan for if his demands weren’t met. “The white, smiling one that rules this realm won’t be able to save her if she kills them all.”
“Actually, ‘Smiling One’ is sort of out as an insult for Omni, lately,” Hunt chipped in.
Zedd turned and looked hard at the Stormtrooper who was not under his command, and Hunt was thankful to have his helmet still on to mask his face. Damn, that guy could be creepy when they weren’t picking on him. Luckily, the dark lord redirected his attention as Graowr dropped to the ground before him. She stood up straight, brushing a little dust off herself and once again seemed oblivious to Zedd’s contempt.
“Where are the Vorticons?” Zedd demanded the instant he saw her. He felt no concern for her well-being.
“They are, like, right behind me,” Graowr answered as she turned and stood beside Zedd. “That was a lot of fun! They’re good at fighting!”
“Stop acting like we are friends,” Zedd ordered as he shifted his stance to be slightly more combat ready. “How many were left?”
“A few,” Graowr answered with a shrug. Her indifference towards Zedd’s anger only served to further infuriate the one-time warlord.
“Listen to me, malcontents,” Zedd barked to the Stormtroopers, without turning to actually face them. “When they arrive, you will use your weapons to kill all but the one that appears to be the leader.”
There was a beat of silence. Even Knox or Hunt couldn’t muster up a joke in response.
“I will identify him for you, so there is no doubt,” Zedd continued, then looked to Graowr. “You will stand aside for this portion.”
“Okie-dokie!” Graowr chipperly responded. “I’ve had my fun. Only fair you get yours.”
Fun. Finally, some common ground.
“Ready your weapons,” Zedd ordered the Stormtroopers.
They didn’t respond, though they could be heard adjusting their weapons. Zedd let out an audible snarl as he sensed their hesitance. He didn’t need this, now of all times. Gunning down these interlopers was the ideal strategy, but he needed troops with the guts to actually pull the trigger. He cursed Desh and Sull once more for assigning him inexperienced weaklings. As infuriating as she was, at least Graowr would act when needed.
“Listen to me, peons!” Zedd shouted, all of a sudden. “Know that if I had arrived in this realm at my full power, you would be fleeing in terror from me, assuming you hadn’t found the courage to take up arms.”
Grace and Laci looked at each other in bewilderment, even through their helmets. What was Zedd rambling about now?
“Know this, though,” Zedd continued. “That regardless of circumstance, this is a moment where we would always find unity. These blue beasts mean to do us harm, and that is a fact regardless of your feelings. If you do not kill them, they will kill you.”
Knox gulped. Graowr tapped her foot. The pursuing Vorticons dropped from the sky and landed near the squad. The primes didn’t budge, though the secondaries recoiled just a little bit. Zedd already identified the leader of this bunch. It was predictably the one who stood at the center.
“Hello, Vorticon,” Zedd addressed the creature, deliberately selecting a non-plural word. It was meant to be intimidating, though it unfortunately relied on the Stormtroopers to punctuate the taunt.
They came through for him, opening fire into the supporting creatures. As the support Vorticons dropped dead, Zedd approached the sole survivor. Before the beast could react, the prime delivered a powerful, downward strike with his staff to knock the anthromorphic dog to the ground.
“Your base,” Zedd skipped the pleasantries like usual. “Tell me where it is.”
“Go to hell!” the Vorticon spat out. Its voice was twisted, corrupted, and difficult to understand. There was certainly something to be studied there, but Zedd didn’t much care for the nuances of a species facing an impending extinction.
“I had been hoping we could skip the ‘loyal minion’ and ensuing torture portions of this,” Zedd remarked in disappointment. “Will you at least tell me the organ you cherish most, so that we might speed this along?”
The Vorticon rolled to its back and looked up at Zedd defiantly. Proud to the end. Zedd sighed at the delay, and nothing more. Kidneys were usually a reliable pressure point, after all. He drove the bladed end of his staff into the creature’s lower gut, eliciting an appropriate scream of agony.
The Stormtroopers recoiled at the sound, and even Graowr looked on with disapproval. This being was a noncombatant by now, the second of which she’d witnessed Zedd assault. He didn’t notice any of these reactions as he ripped the staff back out.
“Tier Seven!” the Vorticon howled with the breath it could gather.
“Yes, I know that much,” Zedd replied in pure annoyance. “Atop the ridiculous super weapon. Where do I find such a thing?”
“A factory compound!” the Vorticon cried in pain. “Towards the south end, abandoned by the gang that used it.”
“The abandoned, tier seven factory,” Zedd mocked the desperate creature. “How specific. Would your pancreas help with the finer details?”
“Zedd, I think I can get it from there,” Grace interrupted.
“What’s that?” Lord Zedd replied, looking back to the Stormtrooper for a moment.
“The portion of tier seven is all we need. I can find it from there,” Grace explained. Though it was true, she’d do anything to get out of witnessing this horror.
“Excellent,” Lord Zedd replied, looking down at the wounded Vorticon. “You get to live, but only because I don’t trust these minions,” he explained, before looking to the Stormtroopers again. “Remove any weapons and communication devices from him.”
Knox and Laci silently got to work frisking the Vorticon and disposing of his armaments. The blue monster barely noticed. It kept firm eye contact with Zedd the whole time.
“I think I have it,” Grace quickly said as she looked up from her datapad. “Factory cluster with no ownership in the matching portion of town. Has to be them.”
Zedd nodded firmly, content with that knowledge. These fools finding success was a pleasant surprise, and he was happy to capitalize on it and demand that much more.
“Then let’s go.”
All of these ridiculous creatures had run off, taking the other blue being with them. The Stormtroopers shifted uncomfortably, and a bit awkwardly. After all, behind them was a still screaming man inside a run-down hut, Graowr was missing, and Zedd was staring blankly at the open streets before them. If was difficult to get a read on the dark lord with his lack of facial expressions and stiff body posture, but they could sense his dissatisfaction easily enough.
“So, are we going to…” Knox hesitantly asked, pausing as he thought about what to say. Nothing articulate came to mind. “…go after them?”
“That blue glob of play-doh has mere minutes to bring them back to me,” Lord Zedd said, though admittedly with no contingency plan for if his demands weren’t met. “The white, smiling one that rules this realm won’t be able to save her if she kills them all.”
“Actually, ‘Smiling One’ is sort of out as an insult for Omni, lately,” Hunt chipped in.
Zedd turned and looked hard at the Stormtrooper who was not under his command, and Hunt was thankful to have his helmet still on to mask his face. Damn, that guy could be creepy when they weren’t picking on him. Luckily, the dark lord redirected his attention as Graowr dropped to the ground before him. She stood up straight, brushing a little dust off herself and once again seemed oblivious to Zedd’s contempt.
“Where are the Vorticons?” Zedd demanded the instant he saw her. He felt no concern for her well-being.
“They are, like, right behind me,” Graowr answered as she turned and stood beside Zedd. “That was a lot of fun! They’re good at fighting!”
“Stop acting like we are friends,” Zedd ordered as he shifted his stance to be slightly more combat ready. “How many were left?”
“A few,” Graowr answered with a shrug. Her indifference towards Zedd’s anger only served to further infuriate the one-time warlord.
“Listen to me, malcontents,” Zedd barked to the Stormtroopers, without turning to actually face them. “When they arrive, you will use your weapons to kill all but the one that appears to be the leader.”
There was a beat of silence. Even Knox or Hunt couldn’t muster up a joke in response.
“I will identify him for you, so there is no doubt,” Zedd continued, then looked to Graowr. “You will stand aside for this portion.”
“Okie-dokie!” Graowr chipperly responded. “I’ve had my fun. Only fair you get yours.”
Fun. Finally, some common ground.
“Ready your weapons,” Zedd ordered the Stormtroopers.
They didn’t respond, though they could be heard adjusting their weapons. Zedd let out an audible snarl as he sensed their hesitance. He didn’t need this, now of all times. Gunning down these interlopers was the ideal strategy, but he needed troops with the guts to actually pull the trigger. He cursed Desh and Sull once more for assigning him inexperienced weaklings. As infuriating as she was, at least Graowr would act when needed.
“Listen to me, peons!” Zedd shouted, all of a sudden. “Know that if I had arrived in this realm at my full power, you would be fleeing in terror from me, assuming you hadn’t found the courage to take up arms.”
Grace and Laci looked at each other in bewilderment, even through their helmets. What was Zedd rambling about now?
“Know this, though,” Zedd continued. “That regardless of circumstance, this is a moment where we would always find unity. These blue beasts mean to do us harm, and that is a fact regardless of your feelings. If you do not kill them, they will kill you.”
Knox gulped. Graowr tapped her foot. The pursuing Vorticons dropped from the sky and landed near the squad. The primes didn’t budge, though the secondaries recoiled just a little bit. Zedd already identified the leader of this bunch. It was predictably the one who stood at the center.
“Hello, Vorticon,” Zedd addressed the creature, deliberately selecting a non-plural word. It was meant to be intimidating, though it unfortunately relied on the Stormtroopers to punctuate the taunt.
They came through for him, opening fire into the supporting creatures. As the support Vorticons dropped dead, Zedd approached the sole survivor. Before the beast could react, the prime delivered a powerful, downward strike with his staff to knock the anthromorphic dog to the ground.
“Your base,” Zedd skipped the pleasantries like usual. “Tell me where it is.”
“Go to hell!” the Vorticon spat out. Its voice was twisted, corrupted, and difficult to understand. There was certainly something to be studied there, but Zedd didn’t much care for the nuances of a species facing an impending extinction.
“I had been hoping we could skip the ‘loyal minion’ and ensuing torture portions of this,” Zedd remarked in disappointment. “Will you at least tell me the organ you cherish most, so that we might speed this along?”
The Vorticon rolled to its back and looked up at Zedd defiantly. Proud to the end. Zedd sighed at the delay, and nothing more. Kidneys were usually a reliable pressure point, after all. He drove the bladed end of his staff into the creature’s lower gut, eliciting an appropriate scream of agony.
The Stormtroopers recoiled at the sound, and even Graowr looked on with disapproval. This being was a noncombatant by now, the second of which she’d witnessed Zedd assault. He didn’t notice any of these reactions as he ripped the staff back out.
“Tier Seven!” the Vorticon howled with the breath it could gather.
“Yes, I know that much,” Zedd replied in pure annoyance. “Atop the ridiculous super weapon. Where do I find such a thing?”
“A factory compound!” the Vorticon cried in pain. “Towards the south end, abandoned by the gang that used it.”
“The abandoned, tier seven factory,” Zedd mocked the desperate creature. “How specific. Would your pancreas help with the finer details?”
“Zedd, I think I can get it from there,” Grace interrupted.
“What’s that?” Lord Zedd replied, looking back to the Stormtrooper for a moment.
“The portion of tier seven is all we need. I can find it from there,” Grace explained. Though it was true, she’d do anything to get out of witnessing this horror.
“Excellent,” Lord Zedd replied, looking down at the wounded Vorticon. “You get to live, but only because I don’t trust these minions,” he explained, before looking to the Stormtroopers again. “Remove any weapons and communication devices from him.”
Knox and Laci silently got to work frisking the Vorticon and disposing of his armaments. The blue monster barely noticed. It kept firm eye contact with Zedd the whole time.
“I think I have it,” Grace quickly said as she looked up from her datapad. “Factory cluster with no ownership in the matching portion of town. Has to be them.”
Zedd nodded firmly, content with that knowledge. These fools finding success was a pleasant surprise, and he was happy to capitalize on it and demand that much more.
“Then let’s go.”
![[Image: zedd2018.png]](http://epiqz.com/mysigs/zedd2018.png)