Not so much as an, “Are you okay?” Verm sighed as he waited for Dez to enter his thoughts.
Shrugging, he dismissed the thought and continued down the corridor of flashing lights. The brothers had been the only two who attacked him; and so, hopefully, they were the only two hostiles onboard.
Soon, Vern came across a door covered in gashes – it appeared that the two brothers had been trying to let themselves in - though it hadn’t been much use against the thick metal.
Not sure what else to do, Vern approached the door and knocked.
Silence.
“Well, I guess that was to be expected,” he murmured.
“Hello?” Came a terrified-sounding voice from beyond the door. “You’re not one of those crazy brothers, are you?”
“Those devourer guys? No, I killed them.” Vern replied indifferently.
“What? You killed them, by yourself?”
“Yep,” Vern confirmed.
“What do you want?” The voice hastily said, the fear creeping back into it.
“Honestly, just looking for survivors. It’s going to sound weird, but I have like this quest thing to save you, and well, it’d be helpful if you came out.”
“That’s what they said! Before they started killing everyone!”
“Who, the brothers?”
“Exactly!”
Vern remembered the brothers mentioning the distress beacon. They had been like him, they had classes and likely levels as well. Perhaps they had received the same quest as well? But why would they start slaughtering the survivors and miss out on the reward? Were they just that crazy and lustful for murder?
“Look, I’m not like them. Just a regular guy trying to survive. Now, are you going to open up?”
A sigh came from beyond the door. “I’m going to regret this.”
Streams of white mist billowed out and the door slid open.
Standing in front of Vern was a waist-tall man with a thick, flowing white beard that touched the ground.
“Greetings,” the little man with thick white brows raising as he smiled. “name’s Nigel Knotsworth, and you are?”
“What are you?” Vern furrowed.
“What am I? What are you?” Nigel shot back with an indignant glare.
“Me? Well, I’m Vern. But you,” Vern pointed.
“And?” Nigel huffed.
“I’ve just nev-”
“Never what? You’re not from the Allied Kingdoms, are you?” Nigel said, looking past Vern to his wings.
“The Allied Kingdoms?”
“The kingdoms of gnomes, men, elves and dwarves, or as a collective, The Allied Kingdoms.” Nigel’s eyes narrowed on Vern. “If you’re not, how are you speaking Common?”
“I’m not?” Vern tilted his head. “I have no idea what Common is, but I’m speaking English, as I always have.”
“You expect me to believe it is some kind of coincidence we speak the same language? Do you understand how crazy that sounds?”
“Trust me, I do.” Vern nodded and sighed.
It took a little convincing, but finally, Vern managed to convince the little gnome to join him on their vessel. Not until after the little guy robbed the failing starship of whatever supplies he could carry, that was; which was mostly beans, in fact, between the two of them they had managed to carry about three dozen cans of beans back to their ship. As well as carrots.
The moment the gnome stepped through the airlock and into their ship, Vern received a prompt.
Rescue quest completed: Lost in space; Find the origins of the distress beacon. Find those responsible for sounding the distress beacon.
Rescue quest completed: Lost in space; Find the origins of the distress beacon. Find those responsible for sounding the distress beacon.
Rescue quest completed: Lost in space; Find the origins of the distress beacon. Find those responsible for sounding the distress beacon.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Bonus reward for saving one survivor added.
Rewards:
FTL drive module
5 silvers
Bonus experience
Bonus reward: Grade F.
A fine silk hanky
Vern rolled his eyes as he read the prompts and a second later the hanky materialized before his eyes. Grumbling, he snatched it out of the air.
“So, magic?” Nigel eyed Vern.
“The system,” Vern groaned.
“Ohh, the system,” Nigel nodded, eyes wide. “So, wait, your anomalies as well?”
Vern tilted his head, “anomalies?”
The system certainly had mysterious ways, and the FTL drive had already been installed without anyone doing anything. But Vern had been the only one to receive the reward, with Dez’s quest having disappeared the moment he stepped back aboard.
The group gathered on the bridge and Nigel explained how those who they believed to be locals called them anomalies, and that they were not only hostile towards them but were actively gathering up all anomalies they could find.
Nigel also explained that only anomalies had classes and could level up, from what they understood.
“So, anomalies like us all have classes and can level up, but no one else in the universe does?” Dez asked to clarify.
“Exactly,” Nigel nodded. “Our ship was captained by Eliza Tayril. She had taken it upon herself to try and gather up as many anomalies in this region as possible...”
“And?” Vern’s brow raised.
“We were attacked,” Nigel dropped his head.
“By the Rangers?”
“No.” Nigel shook his head. “Another anomaly. Calls himself the Star Emperor. More powerful than any other I have ever seen. With a single strike, he ripped our ship in two and took the captain.”
“A man, split an entire spaceship in two?” Dez said in disbelief.
“He has an A-tier class. It's beyond anything you can imagine. We stood no chance.”
“Why would another anomaly attack you?” Vern questioned.
Nigel shrugged. “I can’t say for sure. He made comms with us before he attacked. Said something about ruling the new world. Creating an empire in which all anomalies would bow to him. Perhaps he saw the captain as a threat? She had gathered dozens to her side already.”
“Troublesome news,” Dez nodded. “I don’t particularly like the idea of becoming this guy’s subject, but if he’s that strong, I’m not sure what we’d be able to do.”
What I would be able to do? Vern thought to himself, imagining how the scenario would likely turn out.
“I’m not sure anyone can.” Nigel sighed. “However, Eliza did set up a small camp on a nearby world. I doubt it will be of much help against the Star Emperor since there are only a couple dozen of us held up there at the moment, but we can’t leave them. Besides, if there is any chance of us surviving all this, we'll need each other's skills.”
“Wait up!” Rugsby interjected. “I’ll drop you lot off there, but then you’re on your own. I’m certainly not ferrying around your merry band of refugees all over the galaxy.”
“But without a vessel, we’ll be sitting ducks. The Star Emperor could attack at any moment.” Nigel said, casting big, sorrowful eyes on Rugsby.
“You think that’ll work on me? A Skard commander?” He huffed and crossed his arms.
“What should we do?’ Vern turned to Dez.
Thoughtfully looking out from the viewport, Dez held her index finger against her chin. “I’m not sure. We don’t know our surroundings, or where else Rugsby could take us. They are anomalies like us, but it is yet to be seen how useful that is or isn't. Not only that, but their situation sounds hopeless. What point would there be in putting ourselves in the crosshairs of someone as powerful as this so-called Star Emperor?”
“Well, perhaps we can strike a deal?” Vern turned to Rugsby.
“What kind of deal could you possibly offer me?”
“We got you the FTL drive, didn’t we?”
“Sure, and now that I have it, I hardly need the two of you.”
Vern slumped down into one of the concave seats, groaning as it dug into his back. “I didn’t want it to come to this.” Vern gripped his claymore and bounced it atop his lap. “But there are more ways to get you to do what I need.”
Rugsby’s eyes bounced over to Dez as if he expected her to intervene.
“You think she's going to help you?” Vern questioned, his grip tightening around his claymore further. "It would only take one slice from here."
“Fine, fine, fine! I’ll take you three to this refugee camp and drop you and your beggar army off somewhere else. And then we’re done, okay?”
Vern nodded. “I guess that’s fair.”
Nigel’s eyes brightened. “We’re really going to be working together?”
“Well...” Vern scratched at his neck. “I guess we don't really have a lot of choices, do we.”
----------------------------------------
“Commander Fais,” the stiff-necked lieutenant saluted.
“Lieutenant,” the commander replied, his eyes glued to the lights flashing across a massive holographic map cast over the bridge.
“Another squadron has gone dark.”
“Blobblecork,” the commander cursed under his breath.
“We’ll lose our ability to monitor the sector at this rate. I request to bring all squadrons back to the Hegemony until we figure out what’s going on.”
“We know what’s going on, lieutenant.”
“Do we, commander?”
“Haven't figured it out yet?” The commander spun around on his chair. “This isn’t the work of Skard, they lack this kind of finesse. Anomalies, it's the only explanation.”
“You’re suggesting that they are already capable of taking out entire squadrons of rangers?”
“You tell me, lieutenant, who else do you think is capable of this?”
The lieutenant nodded thoughtfully. “Then we need to establish comms with the Core Worlds, don't we? With all due respect, this is spiraling out of our control, commander.”
“It will be years before they are able to send backup,” the commander sighed, raising a hand to his forehead.
“What other choice do we have left?”
"Dustworld," Fais said, sinking into his chair.
"Bounty hunters? Do you think that's wise, commander? This could easily get out of hand."
"It's either that or retreat from the sector. And we can't just leave millions of settlers to defend themselves."
The lieutenant straightened his head. "Yes, commander. I'll organize comms immediately."
Fais turned back toward the bridge and the holographic map of flashing lights. "This better work."