They Came from Outer Space
The sky churned with thick, roiling clouds, their dark masses flickering ominously with the sporadic flash of lightning that illuminated the heavens with stark, momentary brilliance. Amidst the tumultuous backdrop, an alien ship began its descent, the edges of its immense form barely discernible as it broke through the cloud cover. Lights from the bow and engines emanated from the craft, casting an eerie, otherworldly glow that seeped through the mist, creating a dazzling display of colors that danced along the clouds' edges. The air crackled with electric tension as a bolt of lightning raced across the sky, illuminating the silhouette of the craft as it slowly emerged from the clouds, causing all those present to stare with bated breath.
What appeared to be the bottom of an actual ship first appeared as it continued to lower. Cannons lined the sides of the vessel as it continued its descent. A mast and sails made out of some kind of thin metallic material woven in an octagonal pattern fluttered softly in the breeze as the ships came into full view. What they were looking at was not just an alien spacecraft but an actual pirate ship flying a Jolly Roger flag and sporting a crow's nest with a glass dome covering the open space where a lookout would stand.
Another glass dome covered what would have been the open-air sections of the ship, allowing its passengers to breathe while in the vacuum of space. Two giant engines were on the back of the literal pirate ship with two much smaller rocket-style engines on the bow that appeared to be for directional propulsion. Portholes were placed sporadically near the lower rear of the ship, likely where the crew stayed, and large ornate stained-glass windows were set on the sides of the upper portion of the ship behind the helm.
First, one ship appeared, then two more, and finally, a fourth ship lowered slowly through the clouds. They hovered in the air just below the cloud level as onlookers began to point as they looked on with open mouths. Once they were all visible through the clouds, the ships remained in one location, not moving except for the slight, steady up-and-down bobbing they did while hovering.
Tension was high as weapons were drawn and equipped. No one took their eyes off the spaceships for fear they might miss something happening. Tom strode to the walls and up the staircase leading to the top. He leaned on the battlement, looking out at the invaders. One of the guards handed him a pair of binoculars, and he accepted them silently, lifting them to his eyes to get a better look.
"What the hell?" Tom said softly as he looked out at the ships.
"What do your elf eyes see, Legolas?" James said from behind him, causing him to jump slightly.
"Shit! Don't sneak up on a guy like that," Tom said, putting a hand on his chest.
"Sorry, I thought you knew I was following you," James replied. "You don't need clean underwear or anything, do you?"
"No, I do not need clean underwear," Tom shot back in a clipped tone.
"Okay, okay, Jesus, please us, dude. Hakuna, your tatas," James said, raising his hands in the air in mock surrender.
Tom turned back, but not before giving James an angry stare, looking through the binoculars.
"It's still a little hard to see, but it looks like the crew is moving around on the deck. But you aren't going to believe this," Tom said, still holding the binoculars up to his eyes as he spoke.
"What is it?" James asked, the others nearby leaning in to listen as well.
"They look like...lobsters," Tom said, sounding confused and unsure.
"Give me those," Jay said, suddenly next to Tom.
"Where the hell did you come from?" Tom asked.
"I'm a rogue, Tom. I'm everywhere," Jay said, peering through the binoculars for himself.
"Well, fuck me sideways...They do look like lobsters. We've been having so much turf recently, and it's about time we added some surf to the menu." Jay lowered the binoculars and grinned evilly.
Tom smiled, thinking it was a joke. Then Jay called down from the wall, "Hey! You! Go tell Roland to start making a giant fuck off crawfish pot. Like big enough to cook a few people in!"
Staring up at Jay with a mixture of horror and confusion, the man nodded and went back into the guild building.
"You...you want to eat them?" Tom asked.
"And what's wrong with that? We've been eating dungeon monsters this whole time. Why not alien lobster? We aren't exactly in a position to be super picky, especially when lobster is so delicious," Jay countered.
"I heard the bigger ones don't taste as good," James commented.
"That's like saying white chocolate doesn't count because it's not really chocolate. It's still delicious." Jay waved a dismissive hand at James.
"Guys, the invasion we have been preparing for ever since we got the message it was happening is finally right in front of us, and you all are arguing over whether or not we should eat them because of how big they are?" Tom looked at both of them and scowled as he tried not to lose his cool. "We can worry about what they taste like if we're still alive when this is done. FOCUS!"
"You make a valid point. What's the game plan?" Jay asked.
"Right now, we wait to see if they make contact or just attack. We want to see what their first move will be. But be ready. The F-35s are standing by for our signal to take off, the mages are ready with some of the floating disk spells, and the snipers are watching as well. Oh, and we have the energy cannon ready as well to test the shields." Tom looked out at the ships in the distance and breathed out heavily through his nose.
"Now you know how I feel," Derek said from behind Tom.
"Jesus fucking Christ! Is everyone a ninja now?" Tom jumped yet again as he was looking out at the scene of the ships.
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Tom looked down at the stairs to see Kevin tip-toeing up them. When he noticed Tom was looking down at him, his shoulders slumped, and he walked back toward where the other barbarians were waiting. Tom growled in frustration at realizing that they had been trying to scare him while he was distracted.
"Really? Am I the only one taking this seriously?"
"We're just trying to lighten the mood, Tom," Derek said, holding his hands up to calm him. "We've done everything we can, and it will unfold how it unfolds. We will adapt and use everything we have to beat them back. If we can't win, we can at least hold them off until the cavalry arrives."
"We don't know when that will happen. And they came here. I want them dead," Tom said angrily.
"Cool, it down a bit. The last word we had was just a couple of days behind. The longer they sit there trying to decide how to begin, the more time we waste," Derek reminded him.
"You're right. Sorry. I'm just worried. This isn't the kind of battles we've been fighting. We don't know what kind of tech they have to use."
"We know. But we can't do anything more than what we can do."
"That doesn't even make sense."
"It means what will happen will happen. There's nothing we can do to change it. We will respond to whatever they throw at us, and panicking will do nothing but make us make mistakes."
Derek was right. The more his anxiety got the best of him right now, the worse it would be when they began rolling out their strategies. Tom took in several long, deep breaths trying to calm his nerves.
"Alright. Is Herbert still out here?" Tom asked.
"I'll send for him," Derek said, turning to someone on the ground and making a gesture.
A short time later, Herbert made his way up to the battlements and shook Tom's hand.
"Herbert, thanks for coming. I forgot to ask you earlier, in my excitement, if the guild shields were operational and ready."
"They are! We have a shield that can cover the entirety of our base out to ten feet past the walls. I have someone standing by to activate them if we see them getting ready to fire," Herbert said confidently.
"Perfect. And what about the EMP missile thingies?"
"Those were a lot tougher. I have some that will work, but I'm worried about using them. If they are too close, which is to say pretty much anywhere in the city, they could take out our machinery as well. I'm hesitant to use them except as a last resort."
"Okay. Keep those in reserve, then. If shit hits the fan, we can bring them out."
"I was able to get some other things working."
"Like what?"
"On most of the primary missiles the jets are carrying, there are about thirty-five fireball runes. We tested one by having an F35 fly out over the ocean, which, by the way, is much closer than it used to be, and fire one out into the water. When it triggered, it set off the fireball runes almost all at once, causing the explosion that normally occurs to be magnified by about a hundred times."
"Thirty-five runes and it magnified the explosion by a hundred times? That doesn't feel like it maths."
"I could do the math for you, but I think it would be better that you just trust me."
"Right. I'll just be thankful. Is there anything else we need to know about?"
"The antimagic field missiles, maybe? We can fire them from a long distance, and they will still activate even though they still explode because why take out a positive feature? We aren't a hundred percent sure how useful they will be since the field is stationary, but blowing up the area and leaving anything that survived unable to use magic could still be a plus."
"Excellent! We can almost assuredly make use of those. Thanks for all your hard work on these, Herbert."
"You're quite welcome. It's been a dream come true to work on this kind of technology. But I'm not finished yet." Herbert grinned wickedly as he rubbed his hands together.
"You have more?"
"Of course! There are the ice missiles, the vine missiles, acid missiles, darkness missiles, and my personal favorite, the necrosis missiles. Not to mention we created grenade versions of each of these. Here, take some of each."
Herbert began pulling out grenades from his inventory and handed them to everyone present.
"We've made so many of these that almost everyone should be able to get some. They're in the crates down there in the courtyard."
Herbert made sure that Tom got five of each type of grenade from his personal inventory.
"We also made a super special item that isn't a weapon. I call it the Healball."
Herbert pulled out a bright green orb about the size of a gumball. It had a smooth coating on the outside with a line running around the middle of its circumference.
"Pop one of these babies into your mouth, bite down, and it activates a major healing spell on the user. Each member of the guild has been given one for the battle. We have more available for use if things go sideways as well."
"These are incredible! Now we have something for when people get injured. You've really outdone yourself, Herbert."
"Just doing my duty." Herbert beamed with pride at the praise.
Just as Herbert dropped the Healball into Tom's hand, a noise like the sound of chimes began to emit from the ships in the sky. Everyone went silent again, turning to see what was happening. A screen was projected into the sky from the front of the ship. After the static cleared an image appeared on the projection.
The head of a lobster wearing a pirate hat with a large ornate golden feather in it was staring at them. Its solid black eyes sat on short stalks above its head. Mandibles set vertically moved up and down in opposing directions as it adjusted itself on the screen, and its long antennae-looking mustache moved around as though it was feeling for something.
It loomed ominously in the sky, building the anticipation as everyone watched, waiting for what was to come.