The Earhart

Loud rock music blared from the speakers, shaking the gymnasium's ceiling. On the track encircling the weight area, Julia sprinted, racing Sammy. In the center, Nameless was on a bench, attempting to lift a barbel with two heavy plates on both sides. Aj stood above him, ensuring he wasn’t crushed. Lion was picking up and slamming a heavy barbell loaded with plates as Anatoli watched. Mai sat on a bench, reading a book, deep in thought.

“C’mon, you fucking pussy!” Aj shouted.

Lion slammed the barbell on the ground. He shook his head, stumbling for a brief moment. He then grinned and raised his arms triumphantly.

“405, baby! Beat that, Ivan!” Lion jeered, wiping sweat from his forehead.

“Dees deadlifts are child's play,” Anatoli laughed, clapping his chalk-covered hands.

“C’mon!” Aj roared.

“Get that fucking weight up bitch, or I’m the new team leader!” Lion laughed.

Nameless grunted and pushed the barbell off of himself, racking it. He then sat upright as Aj slammed his shoulders, grinning.

“In your dreams, cat boy,” Nameless snarled.

“Really? Cat boy? That’s the best you can come up with?” Lion mused.

Anatolievich knelt downward, squaring himself and heaving. The deadlift bar barely lifted an inch off the ground.

“The best the universe has to offer, ladies and gentlemen,” Mai snickered.

“How bout you come over here and lift some weights, you fucking nerd?” Aj laughed.

“The mind far surpasses the body both in importance and potential,” Mai sighed, flipping a page.

“Oh yeah? Well, school is important, but big muscles are importanter!” Aj jeered.

Mai shook his head.

“You stole that from the internet,” He sighed.

“What’s that?” Aj asked.

“Nah, I taught him that,” Lion laughed.

“Your turn, cat boy, more plates!” Anatolievich jeered.

Lion laughed as Nameless stood up off the bench.

Over by the track, Sammy and Julia were resting. Both were wearing short shorts and athletic tank tops. Julia’s abs showed, her body slender and easily one of the best Nameless had ever seen. Nervousness and heat rose in him.

“Eyes off my girl, pretty boy,” Aj snarled.

“He ain’t looking at the brunette bubba,” Lion laughed, walking over.

“Just a little FYI, staring at her ain’t gonna get you a date, my boy,” Lion snickered.

“I wasn’t staring!” Nameless stammered.

Aj and Lion both arched their eyebrows, then looked at each other.

“Uh-huh,” Aj said slowly.

“The hero of Mars, everyone! So brave, took out a whole ass dictator, but can’t ask out his childhood crush,” Lion laughed.

“She’s like my sister, man!” Nameless scoffed.

“Damn. Hey Mai! Go add incest to Nameless’s psych profile!” Lion jeered.

“Fuck off!” Nameless yelled.

“Already have,” Mai said absent mindedly.

“Yo!” Nameless stammered.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, so long as you don’t act on it. Incestual tendencies is quite common in adolescents with severe brain and childhood trauma,” Mai shrugged, looking up from his book.

Lion shook his head.

“You guys are fucking weird, man.” He sighed, walking to the deadlift mat.

Nameless groaned, looking at Aj, who was chuckling.

“Help me out here,” Nameless sighed.

“Brother, I can’t help with that. Look, man, go talk to her. Y’all ain’t blood, and honestly, we all thought you guys would get married or something back at camp,” Aj said.

Nameless shook his head defeatedly.

“So, you’re not gonna holla at your girl over there?” Lion peered over.

“Drop it,” Nameless grunted.

“Bet. Fair game then, hey Julia!” Lion shouted.

“The hell are you doing?” Nameless seethed angrily.

Lion walked past him towards Julia. He looked back.

“I ain’t got plans Friday; maybe she doesn’t either,” Lion grinned evilly.

Rage bubbled inside Nameless as he chased after Lion.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Nameless seethed as Lion power walked over to Julia.

“Hey, sweet cheeks!” Lion cackled.

Julia shot over a murderous stare, fire burning in her eyes, as Sammy spat water out of her mouth, covering it with her hand.

Nameless was about to catch up as Lion grinned, closing in on Julia.

“One more word out of your fucking mouth, you misogynistic piece of shit,” Julia grunted through bared teeth.

“Nameless has something to ask you!” Lion grinned as the two boys caught up to the girls.

Julia’s eyes widened as Sammy grinned, backing away slowly.

Nameless was rooted in place as Lion slapped his shoulder.

“My work here is done,” Lion smiled, walking off.

“Uuuuuuh,” Nameless gawked.

“You two are complete children,” Julia snarled. “Fine, what is it?”

Her arms crossed, her silver mechanical right arm glistened in the gym lights, her hair pinned up in a mid-back ponytail. Even with pure anger on her face, covered in sweat, she was the most beautiful thing Nameless had ever seen.

“I uh, well, um,” Nameless stammered.

“Spit it out!” Julia snapped.

Nameless pursed his lips.

“You uuuuuh,” He said. He exhaled deeply. “Wanna go out?”

“Go out? Where? Why?” Julia stabbed.

“On a date?” Nameless carefully shrugged.

Julia’s eyes widened. She rubbed her forehead.

“Dear goddess,” She mumbled.

“Uh, listen, okay, it was their-” Nameless started.

“Now? Now Nameless? This is when you ask?” Julia sighed.

Nameless was silent, confused.

“We lost Carla, Hera’s in a coma, Spider is somewhere out there, goddess knows doing what. And we’re in the middle of some crazy space civil war,” Julia snapped.

“Yeah,” Nameless sighed.

“Look, I love you all, right? We grew up together, and we made it through thick and thin. And I really appreciate that, but if you were gonna ask that, you should have done it before you threw us into all this. Besides, you’re like my brother, it’s weird, don’t you think?” Julia sighed.

Nameless silently nodded.

“You’re gonna make someone really happy one day. And I can’t wait for that. Goddess help her, though.” Julia chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah, same to you.” Nameless sighed.

“Oh, stop it. You can pout when we win this. Maybe once we’re home, well, we’ll see, okay? Now go lift some more weights or whatever you dummies were doing over there,” Julia sighed.

Nameless sighed and nodded as he walked away. As he returned to the weight area, each Vagabond was heavily concentrating on whatever exercise they were doing. Nameless felt like there was a hole in his chest.

Confusion swirled in his mind. She was correct, right? Of course, it was weird; no way he could actually like her. Defeat filled him. He had no real purpose, and his crush didn’t like him back. Was this his fate? To just float from place to place, killing whoever someone important told him to? Nameless began aggressively putting more weight on the barbell.

Lion slowly crept over alongside Aj.

“Imma level with you, hombre,” Lion said quietly. “I’ve seen plane crashes more graceful than that.”

“Drop it,” Aj said. “Look, man, drinks at our place tonight. All right?”

Nameless shook his head, laying down on the bench.

“Oof,” Lion sighed. “I know that feeling.”

Aj looked at Lion.

“I mean this in the best possible way. Can you go fuck off and give us some time for a little bit?” Aj asked kindly.

Lion nodded.

“Yeah, dude, but I’m in on the drinks tonight too,” Lion grinned.

“Appreciate it.” Aj sighed as Lion walked away.

“Look, brother-” Aj started.

Loud alarms blared from the ceiling. Everyone stopped what they were doing.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“All task-force members report to your armories. Deployment status green, I repeat deployment status green. This is not a drill; this is not a drill,” A female announcer boomed from the ceiling.

Nameless shot up from the bench, running to the exit.

“Let’s fucking go, people!” Nameless roared.

The Vagabonds all chased behind him.

“Finally, some action!” Lion cheered.

“Bout fucking time!” Aj shouted.

The Vagabonds sprinted down the main corridor, which led to the academy’s armories. As they ran, dozens of light bearers flew alongside, professors and acolytes darting to and fro. Along the walls, alarms blared, orange lights spinning.

They entered the armory, where a light-bearer mob was retrieving ordinance and weapons.

“There’s got to be like five task-forces in here!” Aj roared over the noisy crowd.

“Dude, this is gonna be awesome!” Lion cheered.

Nameless was silent. Something big was coming.

Nameless went to the window and showed his identification. The armorer nodded, handing him the Beowulf. Nameless racked it, making sure it was clear, then watched the vagabonds retrieve their primary weapons. Once they all had theirs, Nameless led the way out of the side door leading to the Vagabond’s briefing room.

Inside, Thaddeus and Cirilla stood, already adorned in full battle rattle. Both wore woodland camouflage suits with chest rigs of ammunition, daggers, map kits, and radios.

“Quickly, children, change and get ready,” Thaddeus called.

Sammy and Julia ran into the women’s locker room as the rest entered the men’s. Inside, the walls were lined with lockers, with each respective Vagabond's name. Thaddeus walked down the aisle as they dressed in the woodland pattern, dawning their armor.

“Gentlemen, we are deploying directly under the Mistress of Zion by order of the council. The Nameless War Captain will command the other task-forces, seeing as there are multiple fires to be put out on multiple worlds. This planet is in the medieval period, the planet has dense woodland, plains terrain, and multiple mountain ranges. That is all I have been informed of. Pack accordingly,” Thaddeus called.

“Anna will be with us?” Lion asked, surprised.

“Is this a problem?” Thaddeus asked.

“No,” Lion shook his head.

Nameless gave the General a weird look.

As Thaddeus walked away, he leaned toward Lion.

“Let’s just say for high and mighty Anna to leave Zion on a mission, shit ain’t hit the fan. It’s broken the fan,” Lion whispered.

“Fuck me,” Nameless sighed, turning away.

“What did he say?” Aj whispered.

“We’re heading down shit creek,” Nameless grumbled.

“Hell yeah,” Aj grinned.

Once done, Nameless slung his rifle over his body armor. A full combat load weighed him down, his body stiff from two months of no severe movement. He had his battle belt adorned with his thermal knife, pistol, medical pouch, and two rifle magazine pouches. His plate carrier was slimmer than the one he had on Mars but still carried as much as before.

Nameless turned and inspected the others. Aj had a ghillie suit rolled up neatly and tied to his backpack, a long sniper rifle on his shoulders. A large chest rig adorned his upper torso, marksmen tools and gadgets neatly tucked away over the ammunition. He as well wore a battle belt.

Anatolievich had a massive EMR Ratnik pattern plate carrier that covered him from his groin to his throat. He carried a sizeable belt-fed machine gun, with an AK pattern rifle strapped to his main ruck. Mai had a slender reconnaissance battle kit. His medium gun was wrapped in leaves and netting, his boonie hat draped with green mosquito netting. A large radio hung from his back.

General Lion wore slender metal armor that was custom-fitted to his human form. As Nameless looked at it, the armor shimmered, forming into a woodland pattern so realistic that it seemed like the armor pieces were actually arms full of grass and twigs clinging to the man. There were no ammunition pouches or tools on him, as he held a silver rifle that looked like something out of a movie. A curved sword sheathed in the same metal hung by his side. He tapped the gun, and it also began camouflaging.

“What?” Lion asked nervously as the room looked at him.

“Kinda, I dunno, imagined you running human gear,” Nameless chuckled.

“Hey man, I’ve been killing with this longer than you humans have been alive. I like human form and accessories, but my people know how to wage war,” Lion grinned.

“Dude, I need all of that,” Aj said wistfully.

“Keep your grimy mitts off it. It’s worth more than, like, a lot of your stuff, I guess? I dunno, shit’s expensive,” Lion said.

“By your leave, your grace,” Nameless mockingly bowed.

“Cat boy better backs up pretty words with pretty kills,” Anatolievich grunted.

“You know what, asshole? Let’s make a bet, see how many more I can kill before you,” Lion grinned, pointing a gloved finger.

“I accept wager!” Anatoli grinned.

“Guys, the briefing?” Mai asked.

“Yeah, let’s go, boys.” Nameless huffed, leading the way.

Outside, the girls stood waiting. Nameless emerged first from the locker room, Anatoli and Lion arguing loudly. Sammy wore a woodland pattern battle kit, her medic bag snug to her back, chest rig with ammunition and medical tools on her front. She wore a green skull cap and earpiece.

Julia had a very similar kit to Nameless, save her medium size rifle with a scope and offset red dot on the side. She looked stunning, a true warrior, as she stood holding her helmet in the crook of her silver arm.

“Attention!” Thaddeus shouted.

The room stomped to attention as the Mistress of Zion walked in. She bore amazing, shimmering armor that glinted in the light. She had two short swords strapped on either side of her hips. It wasn’t Laydren design, but human, easily centuries ahead of Mars or Earth.

“Take your seats, Vagabonds,” Mistress Anna called.

The Vagabonds all sat in their respective metal chairs, the lights dimming as Thaddeus and Cirilla stood on the side, hands held behind their backs.

“In the last hour, there have been seven Dark Axium strikes. The council believes this is a coordinated assault to divert attention from a key target. The Light Bearers have been charged with answering this brazen attack upon galactic peace,” Anna nodded.

She looked at Cirilla, who immediately ignited her energy, the room shimmering in faint white dancing light. Cirilla activated the holographic display, showing a planet suspended in midair.

“Up until this point in time, the reason for the diversion was unknown until I recently received a distress beacon to my personal comms,” Anna said.

She then carefully took out a golden medallion and pulled from it a memory stick. She then inserted the memory stick into the console.

“This is Princess Zyhara,” A young girl's voice faintly crackled, gunfire and screaming in the background. “I am on Talabor along with what remains of Taskforce Sapphire. Please, we need assistance. I don’t know how much longer we will last.”

“Holy shit,” Lion mumbled softly.

“Indeed,” Anna said. “The council is not aware of this information and has granted me command of this task-force. I charged Thaddeus with carefully selecting each light bearer in this room. I trust his judgment, but know this: any hint of hesitation or lack of courage in the face of duty, and I will end your career far more swiftly than you can possibly comprehend. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am,” The room echoed.

“Excellent. Vagabonds, you are charged with the retrieval of the Princess of Zion, along with any survivors from task force Sapphire and Professor Abraham’s survey team.”

Nameless looked over at Thaddeus. The old man’s face was stone, a bead of sweat running down his forehead.

“All Scourges have full power authorization, all non-enhanced, deadly force authorized. This is a shock and awe, no quarter given, assignment. Bring the wrath of Zion down upon these terrorists. You will be dropping directly into a hot landing zone; expect heavy resistance. Enemy capabilities are unknown; the air wing will provide reconnaissance mid-drop. Prepare yourselves; you portal drop in fifteen minutes. Professors, take your task-force to the hangar bay,” Anna ordered.

The group stomped to attention again as Anna left, Cirilla extinguishing her energy.

The room was quiet.

“She’s alive. Has to be, she’s smart as hell,” Lion nodded softly.

“Who?” Aj asked.

“Their daughter, you inconsiderate asshole,” Julia spat.

“Everyone, including them, comes home,” Nameless said grimly.

Cirilla’s face was calm, but her eyes glistened. Sweat was running down Thaddeus’s face as he stared.

“Hey, you picked us for a reason, right? We got this,” Sammy said softly.

“Thank you, children. Thank you all,” Thaddeus mumbled.

“Let’s get it Vagabonds,” Nameless ordered.

The group grimly filed out of the briefing room, heading down the main corridor once again. As they walked, they all shifted into two columns, Nameless at the head of one, Julia the other. Thaddeus and Cirilla walk along the side. As they walked, several task-forces ahead marched similarly, with others forming behind. There were no alarms, no announcements, merely the rhythmic marching sound echoing down the dark hall as nearly a hundred of the best warriors in the cosmos marched forward to the hangar.

Nameless’s gut clenched, and his hands and feet felt numb. He could feel his pulse as his mind accepted what was to come. The air was thick; he could feel each person behind him as they mentally uttered prayers or some sort of deep thought.

The corridor ended in a large cargo elevator. Two taskforces at a time descended down the long dark elevator shaft. Nameless peered over at the other taskforce, their leaders doing so also. The opposite team was clad in snow-white camouflage, with orange visors, goggles, and optics.

“Good luck,” The female task-force leader called over the grinding gears of the elevator.

“You too,” Nameless nodded.

The elevator ground to a halt as the hangar bay opened wide. The taskforces marched forward, heading down the long double line of massive drop shuttles. Each shuttle was surrounded by striped, blue hazard paint lines on the metal ground. The ground crews, adorned in many colors signifying different jobs, scurried about. Mechanics were doing last-minute checks as Zion acolytes stood before each shuttle. Their hands were encased in bright orange energy as they made different hand and arm signals, the rudders of the shuttles doing function checks.

The Vagabonds walked along with the shuttles, nearing a dark green one. The shuttle was wide, heavily armored, with rockets and guns pointing from its wings. It had a shark’s mouth paint job stretching beautifully on the front, with dark red eyes. Two long tail fins jutted from the back, just above the open maw of the cargo door.

Three beings in grey flight suits stood in front of the shuttle. As the Vagabonds came closer, one of the pilots walked forward. He was about Nameless’s height and build, with brown eyes and short buzzed brown hair. He had Earth middle eastern features, most likely Persian as he smiled. A pistol was strapped to his chest, with a long combat knife wrapped around his right boot, as were the other two.

“Task-force Vagabond?” The man called.

“That’s us,” Nameless nodded.

The two shook hands as the Vagabonds gathered around.

“I’m Captain Nim; I’ll be your pilot for this little sightseeing tour,” Captain Nim grinned.

“That’s my co-pilot; we like to call him Vulture, he don’t talk, but he’s a damn good pilot.”

Captain Nim pointed to a tiny, four-foot-tall Avian being. He had bow legs, hunched posture, his dark brown skin seemed scaly, and his black beak and darting eyes did, in fact, make him look like a vulture as he held his clawed hands in his custom-made pockets.

“Oh, word, so all humans make dumbass nicknames for us non-humies,” Lion laughed.

“Oh, wow! Another Laydren, you’ll love Sasha then,” Nim laughed.

The third being was a short and skinny woman with dirty blonde hair, her face sharp, and her eyes glowing blue.

“Hello, Sasha,” Lion nearly purred.

“Touch me and die, Great Truther,” Sasha growled. “Listen up, Vagabonds. I’m crew chief Sasha. See that beautiful piece of kick-ass over there? That’s our home, the Earhart, named her that since she was made on one of your Earths. Any of you shit birds, sorry Vulture, shit in, throw up on, or damage my home, I will fucking kill you. Understand?”

“You got it, crew chief,” Nameless chuckled.

“Okay, Professor Thaddeus, where are we dropping?” Captain Nim smiled.

“They didn’t brief you guys?” Julia asked.

“We were all that the casino till about ten minutes ago. Even after all the adrenaline stabs, I’m still a little fucked up between you and me,” Captain Nim laughed.

“Oh yeah, they’re gonna fit right in,” Aj chortled.

Thaddeus and Cirilla silently walked over to the aircrew and pulled out a holographic communicator. Cirilla created a small orb of white light around it as Thaddeus typed in the mission brief. The three airmen studied the paragraph, their eyes widening.

“Hey, uh, Sasha?” Nim asked slowly. “Go look under my seat; there’s a whole ‘nother batch of stims. Go grab them for me, will ya? Stim yourself up as much as you need.”

“You got it, boss,” Sasha murmured.

Vulture shook his head as Sasha ran around the shuttle, scurrying into the ship.

“So how much airpower do we get? Jets, bombers?” Nameless asked.

“Just us, man. This went from sightseeing to straight-up top-secret sortie,” Captain Nim sighed, shaking his head.

“Guess we pull too many resources away from the other fights; that’ll raise some eyebrows,” Julia groaned.

“What capabilities do you guys have?” Nameless asked.

“Air to ground missiles, a couple of bunker busters, Sasha has a door gun, but honestly, the Earhart is just one ship. But, luckily for you, we’ve all flown over thirty sorties together, and the Earhart has always wound up back in Zion,” Captain Nim said happily.

“What do you mean, ‘wound up back in Zion’?” Mai asked nervously.

“He means they’ve been shot down a few times,” Julia groaned.

Nim raised his hands.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy there. She’s still here, and we all made it out alive. Yes, we may have had to make some improvised landings before, but! We all made it back home. Well, most of us, we don’t talk about Candor,” Nim sighed.

“The fuck happened on Candor?” Lion asked.

“Would it kill Zion to recruit actual, middle-aged adults for their military?” Julia sighed.

“Hey, you can reach fruitful old age, or ya can be a light bearer. Can’t have both sweetheart,” Captain Nim laughed.

Behind the pilot, Sasha returned with a box full of syringe-like tube contraptions with tiny needles in the front, yellow paint with “Medical Emergency Use Only” in bright red letters on both sides, and bright red buttons on the back. The pilots pulled one each out and stabbed the contraptions into their arms. Sasha grabbed two and stabbed them into her chest, her pupils dilating into small circles.

“Wooooooo yeah! Let’s fucking do this!” Sasha grunted, veins popping out of her forehead, her skin beat red.

“You guys do know you can just buy cocaine, right?” Lion asked nervously.

“Nah, man, coke doesn’t last as long, especially in the shit,” Nim choked. “Whew! Okay, let's do this, everybody on board!”

The aircrew ran to the Earhart, boarding her. The Vagabonds all nervously looked at each other.

“We’re gonna die,” Lion nervously chuckled.

“Look like we found ourselves the Vagabond pilots,” Nameless groaned.

“Honestly!? Let’s just add every crazy fuck we meet, why don’t we? It’s going to be the Vagabond army at some point,” Julia stabbed.

“‘Vagabond Company sounds kinda cool, though,” Aj smiled.

“I think they’re more Vagabond than we are,” Sammy said with wide eyes.

“I feel very reassured about my daughter’s fate right now,” Thaddeus groaned.

The group grew silent.

Nameless held up his fist towards them.

“Hey, we’re the ‘Sadistic Fucking Vagabonds’. All right? We take down regimes, run planets, kill gods, man. We can do this. Let’s go rescue these people, huh? Who’s with me?” Nameless asked firmly.

The group was silent. Then Aj held out his fist, forming a fist bump with Nameless. Lion shrugged, then also extended his fist. Slowly, each person joined their fists in the center.

“Let’s do this!” Nameless shouted.

The Vagabonds cheered, running and filing into the shuttle. Nameless sat next to the open door, so he and Julia could be the first out. The rest filled the seats, the professors sitting in the far back. Sasha put on her helmet and did a radio check with the pilots. The engines of the Earhart slowly thrummed to life, the frame vibrating. Sasha pushed a button, and the cargo bay door ominously closed.

The Crew Chief pointed to her helmet, then next to Nameless and Julia on the floor. They bent down and picked up a headset. Both took their helmets off and put on the crew member radios.

“You hear me back there, Commander?” Nim’s voice said over the radio.

“Loud and clear,” Nameless nodded.

“All right folks, welcome aboard the Earhart. There will be no mid-flight refreshment; if you feel the need to barf during our maneuvers, don’t. If you do barf, feel free to clean it up with your face. Let’s get it Vagabonds,” Captain Nim laughed.

Julia rolled her eyes as Nameless chuckled.

Suddenly, the aircraft shuttered, bright blue light igniting brightly around the shuttle.

“Portal drop in five, four, three, two, one,” Nim counted down.

The hangar around them disappeared, and each person’s stomach dropped as it felt as if they were falling at a hundred miles per hour straight down. Several of the vagabonds grimaced, and Sammy shrieked. Nameless looked over and saw the crew chief rack back a massive machine gun mounted out a window, a massive grin shown from under her dark visor.

Outside the windows, the view was stunning. A rainbow of colors seemed to flow past like a river on all sides, galaxies zipping past them. Nameless was awestruck. So many stars and worlds; at that moment, he realized how small he was in the universe.

“T-minus thirty seconds till orbit entry!” Captain Nim called.

“Brace, brace, brace!” Sasha roared over the net.

“Where the fuck is Anna?!” Julia shrieked over the radio.

“She prefers to portal link directly onto the field!” Thaddeus radioed.

“Stop yelling on my comms; we can hear you all just fine,” Nim sighed.

“Shut up and fly this fucking thing!” Julia roared.

“Ten seconds!” Nim called.

The sound was deafening; Nameless could barely hear himself think as the pilot counted down.

The aircraft shuttered, and they all were nearly thrown to the front of the ship as the sky appeared around them. They were diving nearly vertically, clouds whipping past them. As they neared the ground, the pilots slowly began pulling up.

“Holy shit,” Nim said softly on the radio.

“What do you see?” Nameless asked.

“Fucked. It’s fucked, taking her down low,” Captain Nim called.

The shuttle rocked and swayed, explosions ripping the air outside. The shuttle’s onboard shields held, but the concussion from the anti-air fire still rocked them. Nameless looked out his window and saw long lines of gunfire dancing past them, explosions and flack ripping the air around them.

“I can’t land in this LZ!” Nim roared.

“What?!” Nameless shouted.

“It’s too hot; I gotta set you down further away. Sorry commander,” Nim said grimly.

“Fuck my life,” Nameless shook his head.

“Enemy portals sighted!” Sasha roared. “Hoooooooly shit, that’s a lot of baddies.”

The crew chief started firing, the machine gun roaring. Bullet casings began clanging unto the shuttle's floor, explosions swaying the craft, the bird hopping up and down midair.

Nameless looked at Julia and saw fear in her eye for the first time in a very long time. Nameless nodded firmly. This was what they were here for. This was what they were meant for.

They all pivoted in their seats, facing the cargo door. An explosion ripped through the shields, blowing out a window and covering the passengers with glass. Sasha cursed, letting loose an extra-long burst down onto the ground. As Nameless peered outside, he saw the ground rushing to greet them. He ripped his headset off and dawned his helmet. He signaled to the rest, then cocked his rifle, sending the bolt home into the chamber.

The shuttle lurched, each person nearly falling out of their seat. The cargo door rapidly fell. Nameless bolted upright, sprinting out of the shuttle. The battlefield was a no-man’s land, charred and burnt soil, the air so choked with fog, one could barely see ten paces ahead. Bodies littered the ground. In the distance, some sort of village burned.

“Skien! Find the VIPs!” Nameless roared into his headset.

The Vagabonds drifted apart, forming a skein formation. Nameless in the spear tip, Lion to the right, Anatoli left, Mai behind him. The non-enhanced filled in the rest of the arrow-shaped formation, a professor on either end. The task force pushed forward into the fog, the shuttle taking back off.

Suddenly, a red bolt of energy zipped towards Nameless. In an instant, he imagined a shield, his energy forming. The dart slammed into the energy shield, wholly absorbed, pushing him back a few inches.

“So, it’s like that, huh?” Nameless growled, searching into the empty fog.

Shrieks and guttural roaring sounded from the fog, the distant beating of many feet and stomping of something huge charging them.

Nameless looked over at Lion, who was grinning.

“This is my favorite part,” Lion chuckled.

“What is?” Nameless asked.

“Well, they already fucked around. Now it’s time to find out,” Lion snarled, his eyes glowing gold.

Suddenly, a massive wave of the enemy charged into view. Some had energy ignited, and others were wielding melee or ranged weapons. It was an unholy hoard, and behind it, Nameless spotted the ugliest thing he had ever seen strolling towards them. Twenty feet tall, with four arms, a massive creature covered in scaly armor, red blood, and with several severed heads hanging from its belt.

“Let’s dance,” Nameless growled.

Nameless slung the rifle behind him and fully ignited his energy. Bright gold flame fully engulfed his figure, a lance of the burning gold held in his hands. He charged forward and stabbed the ground with his spear. A wave of fire erupted, engulfing the first rank of the enemy. Twenty hostiles fell, screaming, as Nameless knelt. He suddenly felt a massive weight momentarily press and lift from his shoulders.

He looked up to see Lion had jumped off of his shoulders. His body was engulfed in bright gold and red flame, an axe in both hands. He was roaring, with a manic grin on his face and his eyes bulging as he landed on the horde. Anatolievich, to his right, had a purple sword and shield and was hacking and slashing. Mai had a glaive of grey energy and was fighting with such grace it seemed as if he was dancing.

The rest of the Vagabonds were shooting and killing left and right. Thaddeus was a walking tornado of blue fire, eviscerating tens of enemies at a time. His face was a war mask of rage; he was indeed a terrible sight.

Cirilla seemed to be a floating aura of pure white light. As hostiles came near her, long arcs of electricity shot forward, jumping from enemy to enemy in a connected chain, leaving them nothing more than piles of ash.

Nameless stood, forming his shield, and charged forward. He slammed into a man in a black cloak, sending him flying backward, burning. In the distance, Nameless could hear manic laughter. He turned to see General Lion was literally hacking a pathway through the horde towards the Gurgen, laughing with glee as the enemy fell left and right.

The Gurgen held a tree with both hands, roared, and charged forward, stomping down its own comrades. Before the Vagabonds could help, Lion shouted a war cry. He sprinted ahead, not even bothering to dodge the enemy. Those who didn’t jump out of his way ignited and screamed as they contacted his running body.

The Gurgen swung, and Lion slid on the ground, shouting. He rose in-between the giant’s legs and chopped. The left, and right axe chopped deeper and deeper into the giant’s leg. The Gurgen’s left leg detached, and it went down, crushing more enemies. Before it could get off the ground, Lion jumped on top of it, hacking away.

Nameless looked over at Anatolievich, staring dumbfounded at him as he effortlessly beat back the enemy. The Gurgen stopped moving as Lion climbed out of its concaved chest cavity. The general reverted to Laydren form and roared, stomping up and down on the giant’s body. He then jumped onto its neck and began rapidly hacking downward until the head rolled.

Those closest in the horde backed away as Lion dragged the Gurgen’s head back up its chest, held it over his own head with outstretched arms, and shouted something in his native tongue.

“Does dis mean he win the bet?” Anatoli asked fearfully.

Nameless slowly nodded in awe.