When the trio exited the rift, the first person they saw was Major Thompson, and he wasn't happy. “Who gave you permission to bypass my secure perimeter?” He almost yelled.
Agent Parks moved forward. “We had an active hero level threat, and I acted under my authority to get the expected target out of danger. This was the nearest rift that wasn't compromised by the threat already knowing the location.”
“From now on, no one goes in, or out, of this rift without my personal permission! Got it?” Thompson said to Parks and Jenkins, then looked at his own troops, “Got it?” His soldiers gave sounds of assent and he nodded. “Keep him away from my command especially, including my XO!” Thompson nodded at Eric.
Eric ended up going to the FBI field office for now. Parks and Jenkins left him there, and a GS7 found him a blanket and set him up on a couch for some sleep.
He woke up blearily to the sounds of gunshots and yelling. “bullets don't stop them, fall back.” Screams of pain made Eric move towards the sounds of fighting, something he normally wouldn't do, but he felt sure this was because of him, and if people were getting hurt for him, he had to try to help.
The lights were out for some reason, Luckily the windows were letting in moonlight, and the white walls and shiny flooring were reflecting that light.
Shirtless, he moved towards the main lobby, a large, open two story tall room with large glass windows at the front and a three person desk to control and guide guests. At the door to the lobby he found a desk flipped over as makeshift cover, two agents crouched behind it, pistols aimed into the room.
In the lobby he saw a few bodies and...ghosts? Floating grey police officers, firing some sort of wispy gray guns at agents, including the ones he was next to. “Sun bolt!” Eric shouted, and a blast of light hit one of the two wispy police, causing it to shriek and then disperse. He used another Sun Bolt on the other ghostly figure, which also went away. A moment later the lights flickered back on, and Eric ran forward with the agents towards the bodies. One, an agent, was shriveled up like the two police guarding Eric had been. The other, a receptionist, had a bloody gash on her head that Eric healed, but was still alive.
One of the agents said “I see something,” and two of them ran outside, shouting “stop, drop the weapon.” Eric heard three pistol shots, then five more. But a minute later the two agents entered the lobby, cursing.
“The surveillance cameras didn't go out right away, they only went out when the lights did, we got some good images on whatever it was that attacked us.” The faces of the two attackers were clear, it was the two officers who had died guarding Eric.
Eric slept fitfully for a few more hours, and Parks and Jenkins were in the room when Special Agent in Charge Gonzalez interviewed everyone involved.
“Bullets did nothing, and the things just...stared at Agent Gomez, and his body just, like, aged and shriveled. I'm sorry I ran but I had to get cover, to get away from whatever those things were. Thank god that guy was here,” the agent gestured at Eric, who felt a bit uncomfortable about the praise.
Finally Gonzalez got to Eric, “Please give a report on what you experienced.”
Eric took a breath, “First, I want to apologize to everyone, I think those things were after me, it is my fault that agent Gomez is dead.”
Parks said “Bullshit,” then looked at Gonzalez, “Er, sorry sir. Eric, protecting civilians like you is our job. If you died because we didn't protect you, we would have all failed our duty. We are professionals who are willing to put their lives on the line to protect one another and the communities we serve.” That last sentence sounded like something the FBI drilled into their agents.
Eric nodded, “OK, thank you all though. So I woke up to screaming and gunshots, and something about bullets not working. I figured 'if bullets don't work, maybe spells will?' So I moved towards the fighting. I saw some brave agents holding the line, and tossed some spells at the attackers. Since it was dark I figured maybe they had taken out the lights because they were vulnerable to light, and I have a light based spell, so I tried it. Um, it worked, they died, and then I healed some woman.”
One of the agents added “That was Carla, the night receptionist. Whatever those things were didn't kill her, but I think she got hurt in the scuffle.”
Parks took this opportunity to speak. “Special Agent Gonzalez, I know the agency doesn't have an official policy yet, but, well sir, I think we need to at least consider asking some more agents to voluntarily get classes from the rifts.”
Gonzalez looked at Parks, then the other agents in the room. “There is no official directive about the rifts or getting classes at this time, and frankly it seems to be a big fight in DHS right now. A lot of folks worry that people with classes will be somehow corrupted by the rifts or the classes, or that the power will go to their heads. Off the record, that is bullshit, I'm proud to have Agents Parks and Jenkins in my field office, and I would not react negatively to anyone else who wanted a class, nor will I tolerate any discrimination. But on the record, I cannot ask or encourage anyone to get a class or go through the rift, no decision has been made. I also can't guarantee that the agency won't decide that anyone with a class is a security risk and bench them or worse.” He sighed, “I wouldn't have minded a few more folks with spells or something when we were attacked though.”
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Jenkins decided to throw gasoline on the fire. “While we are all here, I wanted to mention a skill I developed from my class. 'Search' allows me to rapidly determine everything a person is carrying, or all the contents of a vehicle. Obviously it would not be allowed as a legal search, but I felt I should make everyone aware of it, in case it could be,” He paused, then used his hands for 'air quotes' “Useful.”
Parks added, “If there is a good chance of a firefight, try to bring me along, my defender's shield can take about 6 bullets depending on the gun, or the class of the person firing it I think. It can also stop most magical attacks, so if you are going up against someone with a class, please bring me along.”
The other agents were clearly thinking about it, and as Eric left the meeting, he saw a few agents move to talk to Parks and Jenkins.
Once they were done talking, they found Eric, Parks started, “I think we all need to level up more, it is clear he was coming for you, and frankly unless you can get some orcs to help you, we are all you have.”
Then a girlish high pitched voice interrupted them, “Someone talking about my people?” It was Tilly, the Orc who had come to Earth as a law enforcement liaison. “Sounds like a few orc-friends are going into danger, I feel like it would be an insult to my people if you didn't take me along.”
Eric looked at the stocky, darker skinned orc, and nodded, “I think more of us means we are safer.” He looked at Parks, who nodded, and Jenkins, who hesitated, then nodded.
Parks said “There is one more rift we haven't checked out, it is a short drive, but it is to the west, near some old ranches. Apparently some giant birds ran out of the rift, killed a few cattle, and ate them. Then a ranch hand shot one with a shotgun, and they ate him too. Now the military has it surrounded, but at least it isn't Thompson.”
The four piled into a car and started driving. It took 20 minutes to reach the ranch, and another 5 to get to the impromptu military camp. When we arrived Jenkins and Parks showed the gate guard their badges, then asked to speak to the Company CO.
Major Maya Sanz looked at the group skeptically, the Orc especially. “OK, I'm here, what do you need?”
“Access to the rift,” Agent Parks quickly answered. “We have a hero level threat to the civilian I'm escorting, who is a government official. We are all leveled, but much lower than the hero who is chasing him. We have lost two police and one FBI agent so far.”
“Wait, he has killed three members of law enforcement, and he hasn't been splattered?” Major Sanz looked surprised, as did her 'Top' Master Sergeant Smith.
Jenkins frowned at them, “Have you ever gone up against someone with a class?”
“No,” the Major admitted.
Jenkins continued, “Parks there can put up a bulletproof shield, Brown, the civilian, can teleport and shoot blasts of light, plus heal injuries. I don't know what the Orc can do but she is from another world and probably the strongest in our group.”
“What can you do?”
Jenkins scoffed, “Search luggage.”
Eric realized the Agent probably felt weak in comparison to the others. “Agent J, I could teach you Lesser Heal if you want, or Sun Bolt.”
Jenkins gave Eric a long look, “I might, maybe, take you up on that, both of them if you are serious.”
“The life I save may be my own,” Eric said jokingly. Then realized he might be correct about that.
It took only an hour to teach the first skill, but after two more hours, Jenkins scoffed and said “I'd rather have a fire bolt than keep trying to figure out how to make the sun fire out of my fingers.” Then he cursed, and Eric gave him a sympathetic look.
“You just used an ability point?”
“Yes,” Jenkins said, and grabbed his jacket.
After the group went through the rift, Eric got more personal quests:
Personal Quest given: tastes like chicken, kill 5 Cultroraptors and cook and taste at least one.
Personal Quest given: Thin the herd, kill 8 Aurocats.
Personal Quest given: Green eggs, no ham, find at least 5 Cultroraptor eggs and bring them back to Earth. You can eat them once you get home.
The first two were given to everyone in the group (minus the eating part). When he shared the last quest everyone laughed. “Only you would get a quest to bring home meat and eggs for dinner” Parks joked. Eric was glad everyone had put their Salamander corpses in the trunk of the car-hopefully they wouldn't spoil, but they needed inventory space.
While the world was dry and hot, it was still covered in tall, yellow-green grass. By tall, it came up to Eric's armpits and Tilly's chin. A problem for the group spotting foes. Luckily, Eric had Locate Animal. Unluckily, the spell was very difficult to see as it tended to be in the grass. Eric had to lead and the group moved slowly, at first trying not to leave traces of their passage but quickly realizing that they would smash enough grass stalks to leave a path no matter what they did.
There were no mountains or hills in view, nor any water. There were small birds and insects making noise, and at one point Eric spotted something that looked like a short eared rabbit with feathers. When it pounced on a large insect and crunched into it with gusto, Eric realized it was probably a carnivore and hoped it wasn't like a certain rabbit in a story about the holy grail.
Then the group heard thunder. Looking up, there weren't any clouds. The thunder continued, the sound not stopping, and in fact getting louder. Tilly realized what it was first. “Stampede!”