Etoiles Mortant

The Story of the Etoiles Mortant
-“Sit quiet and I will tell you a story.”

Na-Amah, the Indigo Star was looking at him expressionless. The towering creature in front of her stood in utter confusion.

-“I will tell you the story of how we ended up here. And then you might want to rethink your attitude towards me.”

Xor'laxa had had enough. He was taller than most even for his species' standards and with his horned head full of scars and obvious muscle power, he usually faced a much different reaction from his victims. This woman was confusing him, and he got very mad when confused. Xor'laxa had a short temper anyway. He reached mechanically for the giant axe hanging on his back.

-“I wouldn't if I were you” Na-Amah told Xor'laxa calmly, pointing with her chin behind him.

A girl, tiny in comparison to the giant alien, had snuck up behind him and two deadly blades where almost touching his skin where his vital organs would be. Alima Nighteyes had earned the nickname Crimson Star. Her blades a deep red hue from the blood of her countless victims, or so the assassin claimed. No one dared to second guess her anyway.

Xor'laxa was sweating heavily. It was the first time in his entire life that he felt fear. The emotion overwhelmed him. The barkeeper, fearing that things would soon get out of hand, started moving his hands towards a hidden weapon under the counter. The look on the face of the girl at the other side of the bar stopped him in his tracks. Dark Star Koar had her eyes locked in his and with a slight movement of her head made him understand that it would be much wiser not to interfere.

Silence in the bar was absolute. An occasional buzzing from the neon signs was all that was heard. That and the sound of the patrons' own blood throbbing in their ears. Someone had talked back to Xor'laxa. Someone threatened him even. And that someone was still alive! People were holding their breaths, fearing that even exhaling could trigger chaos, a chaos that looked inevitable anyway. And then it happened. In front of their startled eyes the mighty, feared, ruthless Xor'laxa sat down.

Na-Amah's face was a stone mask, not a smile, not a smirk, not a twitch in the smallest muscle. As if she never expected any other outcome to this. The truth was of course that she had already calculated every single risk factor and had mentally prepared over a thousand solutions for anything that might have gone wrong. Not that anything would. With two of her sisters in the same place few things in the universe could pose a real threat. Koar on the other hand was obviously enjoying this as she leaned on the bar smiling and waved to the barkeeper for another drink. Alima took a seat next to Xor'laxa, crossed her legs on the table and her hands on her chest and smiled to him – a smile that froze the blood in his veins even more than the blades against his skin earlier. “Who the hell are those people” Xor'laxa thought to himself.

Na-Amah's voice broke the silence.

- “It all started on Khepre 542, or just Khepre, home. I am cetrain that you have heard of a special unit called S.T.A.R.S. No, it is not just a story, children's tale, urban legend. The fact that no one alive has ever seen a member of the unit is merely because they were good at their job.

S.T.A.R.S. was formed immediately after the end of the 2nd War of Tears. During the conflicts the entire planet's populace came to the brink of extinction. Main reason for the near disaster was the delayed response caused by the planet's intricate political web between the nations. Khepre's history has always been a bloodied one. Mistrust, greed, cowardice and some worthless world leaders and it almost meant the end for every living creature. They needed a solution. And that solution was S.T.A.R.S.

A unit above nations. Above laws. Taking orders by none, answering to no one. It had only one agenda. The preservation and well being of the citizens of Khepre. The leader of the group was called Bright Star and was the one making all the calls and choosing where and how the unit would act. Bright Stars were always elected from the ranks of the unit. Recruitment to S.T.A.R.S. was made solely by approach as for all purposes the unit didn't officially exist. Only unique individuals stood a chance of ever being approached by a unit member. Their loyalty was to Khepre and it was absolute. In the peak of the group's power it numbered nearly a thousand members, all the best there was.

In all recorded history there is not even one mission they failed. Efficient and liberated by state laws with only their high morals as a guide, they played a great role in the recovery of Khepre and its rise from ashes.

Then The Order came. How it rose to power and became an empire and how that empire encompassed not only Khepre but almost the entire planet's galaxy is a subject to discuss with a historian. All you need to know is that it came and that it feared S.T.A.R.S as they were beyond its control. The Order tried to ally with them, bribe them, blackmail, threaten, every possible tactic, but it was trying the impossible. Answering to no one was the unit's core nature. It could not be tamed.

The last Bright Star, Votta, realized  the threat The Order posed but maybe it was already too late. He ordered S.T.A.R.S to take out the ringleaders and cripple this new threat. But they were betrayed. Order believers had already infiltrated the ranks of the unit, hidden, pretending, calculating and awaiting for the right moment. This was it. They were ready and waiting. The mission ended in a bloodbath. Of the thousand S.T.A.R.S only a handful survived. It was the darkest night in Khepre's history. They say that there were no stars in the sky that night, only a dark red moon.

The few survivors that gathered after the disaster were examining their options when one of them, Dark Star Koar, stood up and offered a solution. She claimed she could reanimate their dead comrades. Koar was known to posses what others called advanced technology and others called mystical qualities. She had never done anything like bringing people from the dead before, but the confidence in her voice made some of them nod their heads in agreement; they didn't have much to lose either way.

One of them disagreed strongly. Crimson Star turned her back on them and walked away from the group. The others barely noticed her departure as they had their focus on Koar who had started channeling some kind of energy from her hands that looked like a bright blinding light.

And then it happened. Bright Star Votta that was laying lifeless next to them started twitching and moving and stood up before their awestruck eyes. It wasn't long before they realized that this thing was no longer their leader though. What stood before them instead was a mindless murderous husk that grabbed the first person close to it and snapped his neck like a twig.

No matter how hard they fought they just were no match for the thing their leader had turned into. Feeling no pain, knowing no fear, it kept fighting and killing them. Koar was on her knees, drained and weak by whatever it was she had done earlier and looking at the scene in terror. They would all die there. She had failed.

Then suddenly -so suddenly that it took them some moments to realize the change - the creature stopped moving. Its head dropped off from its shoulders and the rest of its body followed it to the ground. Crimson Star was standing behind it with her blades bared. She walked in front of the kneeling Koar and offered her hand helping her on her feet.

Shocked, bruised and battered they stood there, the surviving few. Burdened with the deaths of their comrades and feeling they had failed the unit's one directive by not being able to bring The Order down they decided to go on self exile. They all followed willingly. They were family after all.

With blackened hearts they left. Their comrades' screams always echoing in their ears. Only one thing keeps them going on. Their endless hate for The Order and their longing for returning to Khepre. Fire in their souls burns brighter than ever and they are ready to give up their lives to take back their home. They changed their name to the more fitting Etoiles Mortant, shooting stars, brightest than all but with a very short life expectancy.

So there you have it. We are them. We are the Etoiles Mortant.”

Xor'laxa was shivering and sweating. Of course he had heard about S.T.A.R.S. Everyone had. He started bowing and apologising speaking too fast and confusing many languages in his words.

He never stood a chance. This scumbag had made a grave mistake that day. Alima moved close to him, kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear “Goodbye little Xor'laxa”. In an instant Na-Amah's hand was buried in his chest smashing his still beating heart in her grip. The giant alien collapsed in a pool of blood.

Dark Star finished her drink in a single sip, wiped her lips with her hand and started casually walking towards the exit tossing a coin to the barkeeper as she went. Indigo Star and Crimson Star followed her calmly, never looking back. Not a heartbeat was heard. Almost half an hour passed after they had left that any of the other patrons even considered moving to drag the dead body away. This station's underworld knew now, Etoiles Mortant were there. And this station's underworld started feeling very very uncomfortable.