Hazelnuts

Garr leapt up from his desk, walking towards the door speedily as Marcus propped himself up from the chair he was sitting on, following close behind.

An older looking man with greyed hair was in the hallway outside of Garr's office and as they passed him, Garr said to the man whilst strutting by:

"Suck it Pierre." Garr started to grin as he continued, "Stole this young Centralis graduate off of you." 

"Well, enjoy your next failed journey." The older man croaks in response.

"As if you can talk." Garr chuckled as he continued on down the hall with Marcus on his tail.

They quickly navigated through the building and out the front door, walking out onto the strange residential area. 

"This place is made to conceal the Spacer offices, right?" Marcus queried. 

"Of course, we don't want too many unsavoury characters wanting to join the Spacers just because they want a free ship or some star born powers, do we?" He quickly explains, Marcus is unsure if that's the true reason or not, but he takes it at face value.

"We make the information regarding us difficult to find out on purpose, often you get it through military connections, so we know most of the people who find these places have military backgrounds which usually correlate to loyalty to the Congregation anyway." 

"Besides, to become a Spacer pilot you legally require a stellar certificate like the other three piloting branches, but there's always a couple of candidates who end up being awful to deal with." 

"How so?" Marcus ponders what Garr has experienced.

"Well, just before I arrived at the offices, I was about to accompany a young budding recruit from some unknown London academy out on his Spacer journey, but turns out he wanted the ship he was provided all to himself, so he attempted to fly off with it, luckily I ended that robbery short." Garr smiles as if he knows Marcus is aware of what he means.

"Now, off we pop down to the undercity, you'll be fine in my company." Garr nods as he approaches an entrance in the Earth surrounded by thick grey concrete, descending down the stairs to what seems like hell.

Marcus, once again, follows close behind, his hands in the pockets of the grey tracksuit he had picked out for this morning, though it was slightly stained with the constant soot that was present in the undercity.

As they methodically trekked down the stairs, Marcus opened his mouth to speak.

"Since we ought to get to know each other, what are your star born powers, if I may ask?" Marcus stared forwards at the descending lit up abyss where a barrier containing a booth slowly outlined itself in the distance.

"I'm an archer, Sagittarius." He replies rather casually.

"So, when they refer to constellations, they mean-" 

"Yes, star born abilities are deemed by anyone of the twelve zodiacs in astrology from what we know, those constellations seem to allow us to draw power from them. However once the stardust is consumed, you only get one zodiac set in place for the rest of your life." 

"You want a hazelnut?" Garr suddenly veers off-topic.

"What?" Marcus is stumped because the man in the trench coat retrieves something from his pocket, it's a clear packet of hazelnuts.

"They're super good for you, cleans out the toxins from your body, plus they obviously taste nice, love eating them at any chance I get because it'll keep my lifespan steady despite my smoking habits." He says as he throws a couple into his mouth, a notable crunch emitting from his lips.

"I'm good, thanks." Marcus politely turns down the offer as they approach the booth to the undercity.

The same lady eyes the two, before letting them go without question.

"No toll?" Marcus questions as they pass.

"She knows I work for the government, and so do you now, officially, toll doesn't apply to us." Garr explains.

"Also, don't take everything I say about star born as fact, I'm at the lowest denomination myself, and as a simple enforcer I'm not too highly ranked, so I am not privy to a lot of the information." 

"I will keep that noted." Marcus nods as they continue deeper down the stairs, the concrete surrounding them once again noticeably begins turning cracked and graffitied. 

"Oh, I ran into a few hoodlums who attempted to rob me at knifepoint on my first trip through here, do you think it'll still be okay to travel?" 

"Yeah, of course, a few slum rats aren't going to harm you if I'm around, how'd you get out of that situation then, you give them your holo-tablet or something?" Garr was bemused as he spoke.

"I managed to escape them by just continuing on my route, it involved some gymnastics though." He grinned when explaining.

"You're an odd kid." Garr huffed as he popped another hazelnut in his mouth.

They reached the undercity through the last portion of the stairs rather speedily, being once again greeted by the pungent smell of rot and dirt that constantly permeated the underlayers of Centralis and probably every other undercity that existed in the systems.

It was simply a physical manifestation of the poverty and misery these people suffered daily.

The two were walking by a few homeless laid out on the street, blankets over their bodies to prevent rats and other creatures from gnawing into them, when a cacophony of footsteps resounded from around the corner of some illegal housing units.

This was quickly followed by a distinct shout that they both could hear clearly.

"Find him, we need that tablet!" A teenage voice echoes in the caverns of the undercity.

"Is that them?" Garr asks with no worry lacing his words.

"Mhm." Marcus blinks as he realises the situation has turned for the worse.

The group was going to discover the two at any second.

Marcus prepared himself to run, however Garr held his arm out to stop him.

"There's no need, I'll deal with them." 

That's right, he's one of the star born...

"Your life is in my hands." Marcus huffed as he stayed in place. 

A teenage boy with the physical characteristics of a toad soon turned the corner, his eyes widening and reddening upon seeing the two.

"They're here!" He spat out whilst bellowing.

The sounds of numerous footfalls on the ground suddenly changed directions, all veering towards them.

Around five people emerged running from out of the corner of the block of shoddy houses, arriving at the dirty street where they were located, the group started approaching the duo, blocking the entirety of the street in front of them, some were armed with shoddy metal pipes, others, including the frog-looking teenager, had knives.

"He's got his old-man with him this time! Hey geezer, tell your son to give us the holo-tablet, nothing bad is going to happen if he does, simple as." The frog looking one, who seems to be the leader of the group shouts out as the others of his clique chuckle in reaction.

"I'm only 21." Garr's expression transitions to one of annoyance, the group and Marcus hold looks of astonishment.

There's only a two year difference between our ages? Marcus stares out in front of him blankly, perplexed.

"Also, you know I'm a Spacer enforcer right, I work for the government." Garr sniffs as he explains to the rotten group of hoodlums in front of him.

A few of the group seem to slink back as uncertainty grips them, though they were criminals who stole and possibly murdered, the term Spacer seemed to spark an inherent doubt within them.

However, the one in the front, the frog looking one, remained determined.

"Don't care! Guess I have to strip the bag and tablet off of your corpse!" He charges forward, the group behind him follows, sprinting towards the two with their weapons drawn and ready to inflict harm.

Marcus's eyes dart around at the different structures surrounding them in this moment to see if he has any means of escaping this situation. When you have six armed people running at you, the sane option was definitely not to fight. 

Garr was standing perfectly still, as though he was content at the fact there was a gaggle of miscreants with knives and weapons wanting to kill him.

His trench coat flips upwards as he reveals an object that he unlatches out from his hip with a click.

"Buffoons line up obediently to get shot everyday it seems." 

Mocking words exit his lips whilst the strange looking firearm in his hand begins to glow a fluorescent green, enchanting streams of light running through the cold yet smooth white metal body of the gun were growing more intense before it now shuddered in his hands, like it was itching to unleash death itself.

"Abdominal, Liver." He calls as the barrel of the gun seemed to emit a chirp like a bird, before a sound that mimicked the splashing of a liquid echoed in the pungent air.

 A pulse of emerald bathed everything in light as it shot towards the body of the frog-like teenager.

The smell of burnt flesh and the sound of sizzling had reached everyone's ears and noses.

An orange hole burnt brightly in the centre of the teenager's abdomen as his crimson innards began to pour freely out of the new entrance created by Garr's gun before he folded to the ground dead.

The mechanisms in the firearm whirred as a small steaming capsule was ejected from out of the bottom of it, whilst being replaced automatically with a new one that faintly glowed green.

As a result of this scene unfolding, the group of teenagers who had just witnessed their boss's stomach pour outside of his body, lost all sense of reason, lurching forwards in rage.

"You bastard!" One says as he closes the distance with a metal pipe.

"Brain." Garr calls as he points his weapon upwards slightly.

The splashing sound and emerald light reappears, another falls to the floor with a hole embedded in the top of his head.

It seemed like the second shot had shaken some lucidity into the remaining four hoodlums, all of whom had begun to turn the other way and run.

"I'm sure your boss, who's now resting soundly, would not appreciate you running away." Garr states as he retrieves his lighter from his pocket.

Marcus stares ahead at the scene in utter disbelief.

"You don't mind if I light this place up, right?" 

The young man beside Garr shakes his head.

"I don't mind." 

He clicks the top of the lighter open, rolling his thumb against the wheel whilst a spark is created.

The small flame that was meant to be produced starts to devour the air, expanding in size as it bursts out like it had a mind of it's own, snaking towards the group much faster than they could run. 

It flies past the four, culminating in a ball shape in front of them before combusting out again, reforming into a raging wall of fire that encompassed the small street. 

This is the terror of a human with abilities that defy the natural order.

The group suddenly comes to a halt, the people on the sides of the roads, who were previously attempting to sleep huddled in their torn up blankets, stuck their heads out at the commotion, squirming away like worms in fear upon the hellish sight that greeted them. 

The remaining four teenagers began twisting their necks around erratically, searching for any means of escape from the monster currently in front of them.

Garr begins to walk forwards, his trench coat swaying in the heated wind created by the blazing inferno. 

He raises his gun once more whilst his finger tightens around the trigger, not saying a word this time as a green light signifies the death of another. The group decreases to three as the target of the gun falls to the floor in a puddle of blood.

"Please... spare us." One attempts to bargain by kneeling down, a wet patch formed noticeably on his pants. Garr steps forward, pushing the barrel of the gun into the young man's forehead as tears well in his eyes.

"Uh, no? Moments ago you were planning on sticking us with those knives of yours and running off with his holo-tablet, I despise people who interfere with the role Spacers have, I am an enforcer, and I will therefore enforce." 

The teenager screamed as Garr pulled down on the trigger.

The green glow drilled into the boy's skull at point blank range, a misty red exploded from out of the other side of his head. 

Marcus realised that the two remaining hoodlums had split up, both were armed with knives as they circled around Garr to charge at him whilst he had focused on the cowardly young man kneeling, one was running to the left of him, the other to the right.

They'll strike at him together, he can't shoot from two places at once... I need to warn him!

"Look out!" Marcus calls to Garr, who turns his head reflexively.

The wall of fire swiftly dissipated into nothingness.

Garr calmly and hastily placed the gun back into his holster with a click. Extending his arms so that they stretched out at either side of his body. 

Both of his palms were open, aiming towards the two who were almost upon him.

A deep purple light suddenly emerged from his palms, as what looked like some kind of illusory arrow slowly appeared from out of both his outstretched hands, the arrows themselves were around 20 centimetres long, the energy composing the objects crackled as they flew out towards the two young men.

The air whistled when the arrows composed of purple light glided towards the foreheads of both attackers at full pelt. 

Light exited wistfully from their eyes whilst their movement locked shut, doubling over like puppets who had their strings cut.

Six corpses now littered the dirty ground of the undercity.

"I don't think hazelnuts will be able to help them lengthen their lifespan." Garr remarks jokingly.

"Keep in mind, as a Spacer you'll have to face threats far more unimaginable than mere street urchins with knives." He also seriously adds.

Marcus nods, walking up to and kicking the teenager with the frog like features to double check that they're dead.

"Don't be rude to the dead, besides, you shouldn't doubt my abilities as a star born." Garr huffs as he looks around for any remaining witnesses.

"Just morbid curiosity." Marcus remarks as he peers down at the corpse of the man who tried to attack him with a knife.

An ounce of remorse trickled through his brain as his eyes met the lifeless and hollow pupils of the teenage boy in front of him. 

It's a shame, but at the end of the day, I have to do whatever I can to protect my family and my world, the people in front of me are far from innocent, so as threats to the path of continued existence, I shouldn't feel bad. 

Marcus shakes his head as he accepts the moral weight of it all, walking back towards Garr, who had popped another hazelnut into his mouth.

"Your star born powers... I wasn't expecting them to be so... varied." Marcus replies in wonder.

"One other feature of the zodiacs and star born as a whole is the fact that every constellation has an elemental sign, even at the lowest decan you're able to tap in and manipulate your element, Sagittarius is a fire sign, hence the wall of flame, though at the first decan it's limited, I need a source to manipulate, can't just conjure the element as I wish." 

"Decan?" 

"Yeah, each constellation is split by three decans, the more progress you make with your zodiac, you reach the second then the third decan." He downs a hazelnut as he explains.

"Those arrows I shot out were a unique trait from one of the stars in my first decan." Garr mumbled whilst crunches emanated from his mouth.

"It sounds confusing now, but we're stopping off at the Moon when we finally leave Earth to have the stardust we got put through for you done, there'll be someone better qualified than me to talk about it." 

"Anymore questions?" Garr huffs.

"Yeah, nice Plazpistol you've got." Marcus had fired a couple before during firearm trainings at the academy.

"Oh it's amazing, only problem is it's a little clunky for a sidearm, you'll receive one to legally carry as a Spacer once we reach the hangar, as a Sagittarius projectiles are our lives, my aim seemed to improve drastically after consuming the dust, as long as I call out the name of the part I wish to shoot, it won't miss." 

Garr shuffles his trench coat and swipes his hand across his mid length hair as he explains away.

Marcus looks back towards the scattered bodies.

"What are we going to do about those?" 

"Ah, right... I'll have to contact Stellar Enforcement, they'll explain the situation to the police as a Spacer incident, we can walk free right now of course, let me just ring them up." 

"Also could you deal with that homeless woman over there." He motions over to a terrified and shaking woman in rags who had not been able to run away because she was probably paralysed. 

Garr made a motion with his fingers that indicated to give her money, so Marcus approached with pity in his heart.

The woman instinctively crawls back and her shuddering increases upon Marcus's approach.

He quickly withdraws his holo-tablet, digitised currency materialises in his hand, about seven lex. A treasure trove's worth in the undercity.

"Here, take it." He holds out the seven one lex notes in his hand.

"Are you devils?" Her words are shaky and contain an essence of fear to them.

Marcus deliberates before answering.

"No, we're Spacers."