She could have sworn she was standing amidst the stars a few moments ago. But, instead, Taylor was standing inside an ancient starship, falling apart from the inside out. A holographic galactic map that might have been out of date was resonating from a table. The constant waling of alarms with red and orange lights flashing all over the place, bringing light every few seconds to the darkened room, was distracting, to say the least. Yet, a single point was available on the map for her to go to that kept her mind focused.
She was piloting the ship; there was no one else with her. “I have no clue how to pilot this thing. How did I even get on this piece of junk?” She shook her head and tried to keep her focus on the task at hand. She quickly glanced at the map and tried to select the glowing planet displayed in the projection. “Coordinates locked.” Said a strange metallic voice from beyond the walls. Before her, the control panel was filled with all manners of buttons and controls; there was no way of knowing which one was which. A green button labeled ‘Skip’ was flashing. For a second, Taylor thought to herself, “What could go wrong?” She pressed down hard, and the ship blasted into deep space without warning.
The ship exited the “Skip” Taylor was heading towards a planet, white as an ice-covered winter wonder world, with no clouds and seemingly minimal features from space. The craft was shaking uncontrollably around her; if Taylor knew how to pilot a spaceship, she might have felt better about the situation. But, instead, her knowledge was minimal, and with the ship entering the invisible ceiling of the planet, burning up and spiraling out of control, she knew she was in trouble. Taylor fell back into her seat and held her head in a fetal position. A final tremor shook through the craft and threw her out of the chair. Flying across the room, she nocked her head against the wall. Everything went dark.
The sun was high, almost right above her; it was not as warm as it seemed. She was lying on thin sand, white as snow and coarse as salt. Taylor could not remember much about the crash or how she got out; how she was still alive was nothing short of a miracle. There was no wind, only the dry, moderate air surrounding her. Was she dead? She lifted her head slightly and found she was lying far from the debris field; she must have fallen out just before impact. Her eye caught the erection still persisting on her groin; she realized the old familiar pain was still there. “When is this thing gonna go down?” She spoke loudly, expecting her member to reply. There was none.
The crash was no soft landing; indeed, her body should have been sore after all that, to her surprise, nothing. From the pocket of her jacket, a ringing sound echoed in the vast emptiness of the white desert. While looking around, trying to see any form of landmark, she took the datapad from her pocket, and the holographic screen came with it. It was already open in the Journals tab.
- Story Quests (1)
- Side-Quests (1)
- Team Quests (0)
Taylor clicked on the Story Quests sub-tab first; she noticed there was one new quest awaiting completion.
1. Select your Appearance (1/1 Completed)
2. Choose a Name (1/1 Completed)
3. Choose your Faction (1/1 Completed)
4. Choose your Class (2/1 Completed) ERROR!!
5. Reach Character Level 1 (3/3 Completed)
- Defeat 20 Black Horde Troopers
- Upgrade your Attributes
- Defeat Squadron Captain
6. Lost (0/1 In Progress)
- Find Civilization
Taylor went one back and clicked on the Side- Quest tab.
1. Repair your ship
Taylor had no choice but to laugh at both quests; when she scanned the planet visually before entry, there was no sign of any cities or civilization on the planet. So she might be stuck there for a long while.
“There is no good time like the present.” The smoke from the ship was still rising high; with the absence of wind, she figured the billowing smoke would act as a beacon to guide her back if she wandered too far out. For a change, Taylor was happy with her choice of outfit, it was comfortable to move around in, and it was not too hot. The glowing blue lines in the jacket were coolant, there to make the wearer comfortable. She looked down at the strong erection and smiled. “It’s you and me then, buddy.”
Hours had passed since she left the wreckage behind; the flat white desert did not seem to relent. Yet, strangely enough, she was not thirsty or hungry, but by now, at least, thirst would have been the top priority of her body. So she carried on walking, trying not to think much about how strange it was that her body wasn’t growing tired, hungry or thirsty; it was just going.
The sun above this strange world moved very slowly; she was confident that, at the very least, three hours had passed, yet her shadow did not move an inch. Behind her, she could almost not see the smoke from the wreckage anymore; she was traveling far. She began to regret going in that direction; maybe there was something more worthwhile in the other direction. Taylor thought to herself she might as well turn back and try another way. The planet was not eventful in the slightest; there were no hills or mountains or any natural landmark to behold; it was empty and flat.
Too busy in her own thoughts, she never noticed the group of low riding vehicles heading her way from her eight-o-clock direction; the noise was faint, she dismissed it as hallucinations. However, moments later, it became too loud to ignore. Looking back, her eyes grew wide, her heart raced, and her hands shook; she drew her sword and held it firmly in her right hand where the glove was on.
“Think Taylor, Think!” She tried to remember what powers she could use with the glove, but she couldn’t seem to recall any. It used to be her favorite part of the entire story. She took out the datapad, and everything around her froze. Scanning over the holographic screen, she tapped on the inventory icon, and it showed everything she had.
- Sword of the Guardians of the Epismus
- The Right Gauntlet of the Nihil
Clicking on the Gauntlet, hoping that some kind of instruction manual would come up, her hopes were rewarded. An information sheet appeared with a brief history of the Gauntlet. And many other bits of information. Including the ones she needed.
The Gauntlet of Nihil was forged by the last Ipsimussian Monk, Tarium. During Izzar’s struggle with the Nihil, when he transcended beyond the natural world, Tarium, his trusted mentor and caregiver, devised a way to contain his essence in the natural world. The gauntlet formed part of eight armor pieces that were combined to bring Izzar back into the natural world. The other pieces include The Left Gauntlet of Nihil, The left and Right Boots of the Void, The Breast Armor of Nihil, The Briefs of Nihil, The Grand Robes of The Void, and finally, the Helmet of Dessix.
Damage: +28
Health: +15
Nihil: +80
Condition: New
Augment slot 1: Empty
Augment Slot 2: Empty
Augment Slot 3: Empty
Augment Slot 4: Empty
Augment Slot 5: Empty
Abilities:
- Shield
- Overcharge
- Restore
- Steal Essence
- Level 2 Power Locked
- Level 2 Power Locked
Taylor was not yet on level two, though her abilities seemed to be more than enough. For example, she could remember overcharge; it was an ability that was frequently overused in the novels. She wondered how these abilities could be used; it was easy on a console or PC, quick shortcut keys were assigned, and they were but a button away from being used. There was only one way she thought it could work, and that was by focusing on the ability and considering it in her mind. She placed the datapad back into her jacket, and the world came back to life.
She clenched her fist and focused hard; from deep within her, she could feel a dim fire burning, that was it; that is what she needed to focus on. She bit hard on her lip, the fire within her grew larger, her body warmed up, and when it reached a level where it felt like she was burning from the inside, she opened her eyes and relaxed her body. It did not have the effect she thought it would give. Instead, the sword she held with the gauntlet was now glowing bright purple, a pure black mist-like smoke released from the glow; it smelt like molten steel. The erection seemed to intensify as her excitement grew.
Three goons were rushing towards her; they carried very primitive weapons for a futuristic setting. Two of them held large hammers almost too big for them to wield; the other had a gun, rusty and old, and the bigger of the four she assumed was their leader, had two heavy swords. The Goon with the gun fired a shot; it sprayed out like a shot from a shotgun. The bullets landed yards away from her; the ammunition seemed too heavy for the velocity it left the barrel at. The other three were still charging towards her with their melee weapons drawn. The sword was making a strange sound, like an open pit to hell. All the screams of all the damned resonated from the blade. The sounds weren’t deafening, though it was almost an out-of-tune humming, quiet as the buzzing of a bee.
Taylor swung the sword a bit too early. To her surprise, a large amount of energy was released from the sword knocking the three oncoming enemies off their feet; it did not scare them, though. They got up and ran quicker; they were out for blood. She blocked with the sword in front of her; unintentionally, a shield formed around the blade. Another shot was fired, this time, the bullets reached her, but the plasma-like protection did its job. The bullets seemed to be stuck within the purple plasma that formed the shield. She thrust the shield forward with a little bit of force, trying to shake the bullets off. Instead, the bullets went flying towards them, hitting one of the charging enemies, killing him. Her heart raced, her eyes were wide. She couldn’t get used to killing so freely. The shield went away, leaving her exposed once again; the goons were in attacking range. She swung the sword towards the first blow coming her way and deflected it, she turned it back, and the hot purple blade sliced through the lesser Goon, causing his demise almost immediately.
She was knocked over by the sheer strength of the larger Goon’s attack; falling flat on her back, the large swords came flying towards her. Taylor managed to block his attack; the Goon growled and swung his second sword towards her. Her hands were occupied with holding the first sword; she had fear for the first time since she found herself in this strange universe. The only thing left for her to do was block with her left hand and hope the blow would not take her hand off.
Silence filled the air; Taylor opened her eyes and saw that she had blocked the attack with her bare hand while the hand with the gauntlet was holding the sword. Everything around her froze; a dark mist formed behind the big Goon, and from it emerged Nivshevus. He floated towards her and examined her hand.
Nivshevus: “Most unusual.”
She had no clue how she was doing it or where this strength had come from. She couldn’t even feel the sword in her hand.
Nivshevus: “Only Master Izzar displayed such an ability.”
A vision flashed in her mind; she saw a young naked boy on a dirt floor; sweat was pouring down his face and in his hand was a sword. The wielder, an old man with blackened eyes, he had a surprised look in his wide eyes.
Nivshevis: “I was there that day.”
It was almost like he could read her mind and see exactly what she was seeing.
Nivshevus: “This is where we knew he was the one to wield the Nihil with unlimited bounds. Tell me, Taylor, are you here to destroy the universe?”
Taylor was shocked that he knew her real name; she hadn’t mentioned her name before, only her alias was visible on her clothes; how could he possibly have known?
Nivshevus: “The power of the Nihil takes dedicated training and understanding to wield; to have such perfect control over it at your level means you must have experienced great loss. In time you will rival Master Izzar.”
Nivshvus turned away and vanished once again; it was confusing, reality snapped back, and she was still on the floor, blocking the sword with her bare hand. She pushed it away with all her might; the force pushed him back so hard that he landed on his back a few feet away from her. She jumped to her feet and rushed towards him, driving her sword deep into him. When she looked up, the Goon firing shots at her earlier was already far out in the distance in his vehicle fleeing from her. “I need to get off this planet. Something does not feel right here.”
The large Goon was still alive; he kept his eyes on her. Taylor’s sword was still firmly lodged in his chest.
Taygoth: “Where am I?”
Large Goon: “You should have killed my friend first; he is bringing an army.”
A final breath escaped his body. Taylor let him go and pulled her sword out of him, wiping the blood off the sword with his clothes. The purple glow had also disappeared.
“Well, I guess I should prepare then.” She looked at the gauntlet knowing she had to practice its use. There were many abilities she could use to defeat the enemies she faced. Her sight was drawn to the erection behind her hand. “I need to figure out how to get rid of you too.” She looked up and couldn’t see the other Goon anymore.