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Chapter 3

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RE:INVADE

There is a woman in her space ship, sitting in the atmosphere over Karth IV. She twirls a finger through the braid down the back of her blonde hair. She rests her cheek on her fist with a great sigh.

Then there is a flash of a memory through her mind:

A young girl, sprightly and overconfident stands in a black uniform two sizes too big for her, in a hat that almost engulfs her whole head. She places her fists into her sides and decrees, "Hello, universe! I'm Level 99 Avalacia Baphomet of the Void Raiders! And I'm here to conquer you!"

The woman snorts a laugh at the daydream.

Void Raiders.

What a laugh. How childish...

Then something appears on her radar. She perks up slightly. "A target?"

Her eyes widen. "A Dreadnought!"

There appears a ship in the atmosphere of the green and blue planet, blotting out the system's sun. It showed up on the scanners a moment early, just before it released its camouflage.

But now it's here. And Avalacia's boots suddenly retract under her seat as her body swells with both anxiety and excitement.

A shuttle flies around the bottom of the ship. It's getting closer.

Avalacia gently slides her wrist along her glowing console. Her index finger lifts just a slight, places gently down onto a bright red button.

Bwoooooooosh!

The ship is still approaching. But now, too, missiles are approaching it.

She looks down with eyebrows raised. She realizes she pushed the button.

"E…eh?"

Ω

Seiko ran. Her boots were heavy by then. Her body was heavy.

But the smoke was still growing thicker over the blind of trees around her. The waypoint was closing in, closer… closer…

"OOUUFF!" A man suddenly cried out as his body slammed against hers. All of her momentum was immediately stopped, her head jerked forward over her shoulder, then went down to the dirt with the rest of her.

-15 HP!

She was quick to race for her feet. Something crunched beneath as she moved – a large stick. She took it, wielded it in both hands like a sword, and quickly hopped backward from whoever was attacking her.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

[Stick: 2H Equipped]

But the scruffy-haired brunette on the dirt beneath her had a plasgun trained on her face, one of the sorts that was small like a pistol, and lethal like a blade.

A hit from that will do more than 15 damage!

She dropped the stick and threw her hands into the air. "Don't shoot!"

His eyebrows went up. His stiff face softened just a slight. "You speak Starkind…?"

She nodded frantically.

"What's with the robes? Undercover?"

She nodded even more frantically.

His eyes went narrow. He carefully holstered the pistol, slowly stood from the ground, and began to wipe down his blue jacket. His eyes never left hers.

"I-I'm Seiko!" she suddenly blurted out.

"Like the watch?"

"The… watch?"

"Nevermind." He stuck a dirty hand out.

She shook his hand.

"I'm…" He appeared to think for a moment. "Zark!"

"...Zark?"

He snapped, "It's not like this game has a random name generator, or anything, okay!?"

She wondered, …Game?

He shifted his pale backpack uncomfortably. "Where are you from?"

Why the hell am I making small talk? I should be running, still.

"Omni."

"Omni?" His eyebrows jumped. He forgot all about running for a moment. "That's a helluva long way from here… How'd you end up…?" His voice trailed off. His HUD was still flashing in the bottom right corner – he'd thought it was an HP warning, but…

[Danger]

[Level 1.5]

He cleared his throat, chuckled uncomfortably, and asked, "So, uh, what level are you?"

...More small talk!?

"Is that your ship?" she suddenly interrupted. He jolted slightly.

She's straight to business!

If I'm getting a warning for a 1.5, I wonder how much EXP she's worth…

His finger brushed the handle of his pistol.

"Is that your ship?" she repeated, pointing at the smoke through the trees.

"Oh, y-yeah. It went down, I got shot by some Paladin, I think. Took me by surprise, that's for sure. I didn't even know the Paladins were an Open Hostility clan..."

"Depends which ones we're talking about. Some can be real trouble."

But if she's a 1.5 after all… I wonder if she'd make a valuable ally. She certainly seems to know a thing or two.

"Seiko," his voice changed tenor suddenly, as thought his lackadaisical manner suddenly wasn't good enough for him, replaced by an intensity unmatched by Seiko's quiet desperation. "Will you accompany to the edge of this galaxy?"

"Wh-what's with this, now!?" She leaned back. Her face reddened. "And anyway, it's not like we've got any way out of here; the only thing I've got that could get me off this rock is a [Space Age Token], but I was really hoping your ship was alright..."

His eyes lit up. So that's it. She used Rebirth, kept all of her memories and a couple of items. I wonder if she kept her skills…?

More importantly… that coin is worth a pretty penny! I could sell it easy on the black market!

Then Seiko's face grew serious. "If someone else gets to that shipwreck, it could spell disaster for this whole planet."

"You're working under the same assumption, then, that this is a Tribal State planet?"

"I am." She nodded. "Even if it's not... If there's any chance of that thing getting us to Omni, I've got to take it. There are a few words I'd like to share with a few choice Paladin friends of mine..."

You and me both.

'Zark' smiled. "Well then, there's no time to waste. Let's go."

They turned together, and started a sprint right back where he'd come from, right toward that flaming ship…

Little did they know, one Rié was already sat inside, the engines were already glowing to life at her touch…

And a sinister, winning smirk crossed her face.