ONE CYCLE LATER

  I know why we do this.

  I, along with the rest of my brothers and sisters, hover in the middle of a FORMER planet.

  A planet that was once filled with BILLIONS of life-forms.

  Billions of life-forms that have all together, seemingly at once, ceased to exist.

  All because of us.

  I know why we do this…

  _

  “Is everything prepared for the Galactic Deciders’ arrivals, Pabl,” asked the two-foot-tall, pale purple-skinned, hairless, and six-eyed Taolean Chieftain Chalun, who was the kind and justly ruler of planet Taolea.

  “Yes, Chieftain Chalun,” Pabl replied, who was forty cycles younger than the very old Taolean Ruler. “All of our tributes are prepared for the Galactic Deciders. They should be VERY pleased.”

  “I hope you are correct in your claim, my dear old friend. The Galactic Deciders have decimated twelve other worlds in the past cycle since the ‘World-Breaker’s’ Grand Betrayal.

  “Yes, my Chieftain. I know.”

  “I do not intend for ours to be the thirteenth.”

  “It won’t be, my Chieftain. When their new leader first came to our world three day-cycles ago he gave us a choice. A choice to give all of our world’s vital resources to the Voltairan Empire or…”

  “DECIMATION.”

  “Yes, my Chieftain… But fret not. We chose…”

  “SURRENDER.”

  “Ye-- Well… No, my Chieftain. We did not surrender.”

  “What else would you call it then, Pabl??? To save our species from extinction we gave everything we have to the Deciders… EVERYTHING. If that is not ‘surrender’ then WHAT ELSE would you call it?”

  Eyes widened, Pabl had no reply.

  “We have lost our way, Pabl,” Chieftain Chalun stated gravely. “We have lost our…”

  CLUMP!

  _

  A former planet.

  No… A squalor.

  That is what planet Taolea was.

  A WRETCHED, PUTRID, and FOUL waste of a world.

  Thousands of rocky clusters surround us now.

  Flowing through the stars we sit here… Knowing why we do this.

  _

  Hobbling outside of his hut was Chieftain Chalun and his Advisor, Pabl, as they witnessed several of their fellow tribesmen, women, and children clamor to the black bodysuit wearing and golden masked Galactic Decider who had just rained down from the ‘galactic heavens’ above and landed upon their very own dirt and soil.

  The Chieftain and Pabl both stared at the Galactic Decider with widened eyes as the tribespeople all immediately fell to their knees and bowed in the literal ‘god-like’ being’s fierce presence.

  “Ugh,” the Galactic Decider groaned through his golden battle helmet’s voice modulator. “Such depressing life-forms, you all be.”

  Pressing a button that was located on the right side of his armored neck, the Galactic Decider’s Battle Helmet broke apart and stored itself automatically into a small ‘packing unit’ that was attached to the back of his neck.

  With his true face now revealed to the tribespeople, Braako, the new Commanding-Leader of the Galactic Deciders of the Voltairan Empire, glared at them all with his darkened eyes.

  “LIFE-FORMS OF TAOLEA!!!” Braako proceeded to blare, gaining the tribespeople's, along with Chieftain Chalun and Advisor Pabl’s, collective attention. “Your race was given TWO OPTIONS! Either surrender yourselves and ALL of your most vital resources to my people… OR REFUSE AND PERISH!!!”

  “WE SURRENDER, LORD-DECIDER!” one of the tribe’s people cried out whilst still bowing to Braako.

  “YES, WE SURRENDER,” another cried. “TAKE ANYTHING! ANYTHING THAT YOU WISH!”

  “IT IS YOURS, LORD-DECIDER,” a third tribesperson erupted. “All that we ask is that you give us mercy and spare our life-cycles!”

  Scrunching his brow in confusion, Braako, who now bore a long beard and braided ponytail hairstyle that ran all the way down to the middle of his ‘shell-like’ back, huffed, “Mercy? Hmph… Kroones.”

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  _

  Taoleans.

  What wastes of life-cycles, they were.

  They were like insects to our supreme being.

  Urchins who deserved to be stomped out… Which we did.

  WE ALL DID.

  _

  “LORD-DECIDER,” ushered Chieftain Chalun from in front of his hut as Braako set his sights on him immediately.

  As the Planet’s elderly ruler hobbled towards him, Braako narrowed his eyes in disgust.

  “LORD-DECIDER, I, CHIEFTAIN CHALUN… TWELFTH OF MY NAME, WHOLE HEARTEDLY GIVE YOU THANKS FOR YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF OUR CHOICE TO SURRENDER ALL OF OUR MOST PRECIOUS AND VITAL, RESOURCES, AND HOME WORLD TO THE VOLTAIRAN EMPIRE!!!”

  Dropping down to one knee whilst gripping onto his wooden scepter with his right hand before his tribespeople, Chieftain Chalun lowered his head out of respect for Braako.

  “Heh, heh, heh,” Braako snickered, causing Chieftain Chalun’s hairless and wrinkled brow to scrunch in confusion. “Heh… Heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh… Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!!!!!!”

  Alarmed by Braako’s sadistic sounding laughter, Chieftain Chalun raised his pruned head to meet eyes with the Commanding-Leader of the Galactic Deciders.

  “Lord-Decider?” the Chieftain said in confusion as Braako continued his laughing spell.

  “Ha-ha-ha! Look at you!” Braako pointed out. “The SOLE RULER of this truly THRACKED world bending the knee to an invading being! Heh, heh… Some ‘ruler’ you are! Heh, heh, heh… HA-HA-HA!”

  “Luh-Lord-Decider, I… I do not understand?”

  “WRETCHES OF TAOLEA!!! LOOK TO YOUR RULER! YOUR CHIEFTAIN! YOUR GOD!!! LOOK AT HIM! LOOK AT HIM BENDING THE KNEE TO ME! BENDING THE THRACKING KNEE TO YOUR INEVITABLE DESTROYER!!!”

  “Duh-Destroyer?” Chieftain Chalun gasped as he looked at Braako in even more confusion. “Lord-Decider… What are you-- AGH!!!”

  STRIKING at the Chieftain with a lash of his telekinetic powers, Braako knocked Chalun to the ground flat on his back.

  “HA-HA-HA! HA-HA-HA-HA!!!” Braako continued to cackle madly as he kept Chieftain Chalun pinned to the ground.

  Whilst keeping the Chieftain pinned, Braako shouted, “NOW, TAOLEAN-WRETCHES! BEFORE I BREAK YOUR WORLD I ASK YOU ONE QUESTION AND ONE QUESTION ONLY!!! WHERE IS THE ONE KNOWN AS ‘WORLD-BREAKER’?! I KNOW HE WAS HERE! DO NOT LIE ME! TELL ME THE TRUTH AND I CAN MORE THAN PROMISE YOU ALL THAT YOUR RUIN SHALL GO AS SWIFTLY AND AS PAINLESSLY AS POSSIBLE!!!”

  As the Tribespeople all started to frenzy and scream in fear, Chieftain Chalun spoke out, “Urgh… Ugh… We… We do not know what you… are… tuh-talking abou--- AAAAAARGH!!!!!!”

  “I SAID DO NOT THRACKING LIE TO MEEEE!!!!!” Braako raged as he tightened the telekinetic hold that he had on the Chieftain’s tiny and frail body, breaking several of his brittle bones in the process.

  “MERCY!!!” one of the Tribespeople immediately pleaded to Braako.

  “MERCY!” another sounded off, gaining the Commanding-Leader of the Galactic Deciders’ attention.

  “Mercy? MERCY?!” Braako scoffed as he continued to break down Chieftain Chalun’s body. “NO MERCY! MY ‘GRANDEST’ APOLOGIES, BUT THERE IS NO ‘MERCY’ FOR KREN-ALIGNED, AND FUGITIVE HARBORING, THRACKERS LIKE YOU!!!!”

  “URGH… DIE, YOU THRACKING MONSTER! DIIIIIE!!!” Pabl shouted as he ran at Braako with a crude looking spear in his right hand.

  Noticing this, Braako allowed Pabl to near his position whilst he smirked, “Heh… Kroone.”

  Latching onto Pabl with his telekinesis, Braako blinked his right eye lid, causing the Chieftain’s Advisor and longtime friend to explode into several pieces of bloody meat-chunks.

  The terrified cries of Tribespeople filtered the airwaves now as Braako cackled at the carnage that he had just created all with a mere ‘blink’ of an eye.

  “Puh-Pabl… Urgh… No,” Chieftain Chalun grunted as Braako snickered.

  As tears started to roll out of the corners of the Chieftain’s eyes Braako began blowing up more tribespeople and their Huts all with his mind one after the other whilst laughing like an absolute madman.

  With the last bit of his dwindling strength, Chieftain Chalun managed to turn his head to the right and look up at the Commanding=Leader of the Galactic Deciders with his teary eyes.

  “Pluh-Please… Stuh-Stop this,” the Chieftain pleaded, gaining Braako’s attention once more. “Stop this… Urgh…”

  “I told you, Chieftain. I TOLD YOU NOT TO LIE TO ME… But what did you end up doing?” Braako asked as Chieftain Chalun sobbed. “You lied to me… YOU LIED TO ME.”

  “We… We do not know… We do know where ‘the World-Breaker’ is.”

  “Truthfully?

  ` “Yuh-Yes.”

  Keeping his eyes narrowed, Braako remained silent for about two point five seconds until he uttered, “Liar.”

  After Braako had called Chieftain Chalun a ‘liar’ the ground began to shake and the skies started to swirl and turn.

  As the kindly and just ruler of Taolea noticed this, Braako said, “Chieftain Chalun… It has been decided…”

  Drifting his eyes back down towards the Commanding-Leader of the Galactic Deciders, Chieftain Chalun stuttered, “Wuh-What??”

  Sneering, Braako said, “YOUR FATE.”

  KA-BOOM!!!!

  _

  They have a ‘name’ for us.

  Names that are tossed around the galactic star ways like frightening tales.

  Curses.

  Warnings.

  They call us… ‘THE WORLD-BREAKERS’.

  Tis what we do.

  Tis our purpose… Our SOLE purpose.

  We are… THE BREAKERS OF WORLDS.