Just a little omake to mark American Explosive Treason Day 
"What's that one?"
"I call it the
Asteroid Impact."
"Catchy name. Is it any good?"
"Not bad, I guess. Bit small, but it's still pretty."
"Hmm. Ah, what about
this one?"
"That's the finale."
"It's… quite large. And hard to look at. Seems to have too many corners for the number of sides."
"Yeah, the people I got it from are… well, they're pretty weird. Friendly, but weird. Scaly too."
"You did meet some interesting people in your travels."
"Some right fuckers too, I have to admit. Mind you,
they're not a problem any more."
"That's my girl. So what does it do, anyway?"
"The clue is in the name there."
"'
Stellar Detonator Type XIV. I see."
"You need to set it off quite a long way away to be completely safe..."
"I imagine you do. All right, I agree, that's for last. What do we start with?"
"Well, I want Mr Death to have some fun, but I was thinking a spread of plasma warheads to kick things off, then maybe shoot off a couple of those things."
"Huh. That's not any of the UAC designs you showed me."
"No, I picked that up from this giant AI tank I met. We swapped some designs. He told me the hellbore was pretty impressive, and I want to see if he's right. Took ages to build it, but it checks out."
"I think we should stand
way over there, just in case."
"Sure. I made a remote for it."
"Good. And these smaller ones?"
"That one makes every particle in the zone of effect fly apart at the speed of light. Total protonic reversal, that scientist said, then he screamed and ran away when I explained what I wanted it for. Or it might have been because of that Zuul guy, he was a dick. Not a very tough dick though… Anyway, this other one here just makes a pretty light show for a while. And sometimes summons extremely hostile demons, but lately they seem to be staying away for some reason. Bit irritating, I could do with the target practice."
"I see. And this one?"
"Oh, that thing is pretty cool, it'll blow a hole the size of the moon in a planet."
"Really?"
"Yep. I tried it. Moon fitted right in no problem."
"Impressive indeed."
"I thought so."
"Seems like we have a decent loadout then. I've got a few toys of my own I've been sitting on for a while, like this thing. Picked it up when I was dating your mother."
"'Baby Nukem? Weird name."
"It's pretty funny. They hear it coming, and run like hell. Doesn't usually help."
"Hah. Nice one, Dad."
"Your mother loved it. Anyway, we're running out of time, so we should get ready."
"I have retrieved the hot dogs of DOOM, my Queen."
"Did you get the pizza too?"
"Um… I will be back soon, my Queen. My apologies."
"Whatever. Oh, make sure we get the
good mustard this time, you hear me?"
"As my Queen commands, so shall it be."
"You better believe it."
"He's polite all things considered."
"Yeah, they're pretty helpful. OK, let's get everything set up. You! Portal, now. And you lot, grab all this and carry it through.
Do not drop it!"
"As my Queen commands."
"Coming, Dad?"
"Yes, just hold on a second, I need another beer… OK, let's go. Video recording on?"
"Of course, I want to remember this."
"And you're sure no one wants this star system any more?"
"Not… any more, no."
"That is a truly disturbing grin, Taylor."
"Thanks, Dad. Yours is pretty good too. Oh, should we send a copy to dear old Max? Just to let him know we remember him?"
"Should help keep him honest. Excellent idea."
"This should be fun. I've always loved the fourth of July..."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Emily watched as the screen gradually dimmed to reveal what was left of a star, her hands clammy and her face covered in sweat. When the recording ended, she took several seconds to recover enough to look around at the others in the conference room. Armsmaster was fixedly staring at the now blank screen, several people had their eyes closed, one had fainted, and the rest were looking terrified.
"And
that, yet again, is why we do not upset Overkill, ladies and gentlemen," she said through a dry throat as she reached for a glass of water. "That was her
having fun with her dad."
She glanced at Tagg, who was white and shaking. "You get the point, you incredible asshole?"
He nodded silently. She was fairly certain his pants were damp.
"Nice of her to send us a copy of the video," Assault eventually commented in a high-pitched voice.
Looking at him, Emily merely shook her head before getting up to go and get drunk. Again.
