Gianfranco Mancini’s Reviews > The Bleeding Stars > Status Update

Trazyn basked in their consternation. After all, it had not been quite as easy as he’d suggested to gain entry to this chamber, and as a reward, he allowed himself a moment to savour their wrong-footed silence. He didn’t laugh – that would be crass – but he did record the moment so he might chuckle over it later.

‘We know who you are, Trazyn of Solemnace,’ Dzukar snapped, reactor flaring in irritation. ‘I recall that the last time you were caught here, we issued a writ of banishment. To return would be to die.’ ‘And yet’ – Trazyn spread his arms, as if to acknowledge a multitude acclaiming him in welcome – ‘here I am.’

Emerald steam billowed from the ramparts atop the Volakhan Gate, venting from the overtaxed gauss blasters of the Oruscar Dynasty Immortals. ‘Move not!’ Revkkah ordered, striding among her phalanx. She was so lost in the intensity of the battlesphere that she spoke the order aloud along with the interstitial broadcast. ‘Gird your necrodermis! Harden your joints! They are coming again!’