The third-story window was about level with the top of the ship. It was a metallic purple and had several protrusions on it. Going closer to the window, they could see that the ship stretched on for maybe thirty meters and left about a meters margin between its sides and the buildings.
From the ship a bright beam of light shone into the sky. And in the beam, clearly visible. Was a cartoon snake, moving its midsection from side to side while flapping its hands above its head.
“The apocalypse is so much worse than I ever imagined...”
With heavy hearts they set to their last minute preparations. Getting things in order.
Ten minutes later they walked out of the building. Dressed in several layers of clothing and bicycle helmets. It wasn't the most ferocious of appearances. But every last bit of protection counted when they didn't know what they were up against. Other than that Lisa had her quiver strapped to her hip while holding the crossbow. Jacob on the other hand just had a wooden baseball bat and a shoulder-bag.
Following the arrows on their interfaces, they hurried to the back of the vessel where a ramp had been lowered, leading to an opening into the ship. Bumping into one another, they came to a halt, as they saw two hulking figures at the top of the ramp. Easily over three meters tall and solidly built. In their blue full-covering armor they could almost be mistaken for over-sized humans, if it weren't for the fact that they sprouted four thick arms each.
Turning its head towards them, Jacob could feel them being inspected through a glowing visor. Pointing a massive gun the size of Lisa at them it spoke with a mechanic voice.
“Earthlings, move along. Get inside for the mission or get the pit away from here.”
It would probably have sounded more intimidating, if it didn't sound like Stephen Hawkins text-to-speech device. As it was though they more than made up for it in the intimidation factor, just by their sheer massive presence.
“Are you deaf? I said move it!”
“Calm down Deva. They are clearly overwhelmed and confused” The other giant told the first one. In return, a non-synthesized deep huff was heard.
“My partner here is right though, if you just stay there, you won't be under our protection until you board the ship.”
Sweeping one of its free arms arms to indicate the opening it added as an afterthought. “Oh right. And no violence allowed on-board.” Pausing for a moment it added. “Understood?”
Nodding profusely while stammering their agreements they scrambled onboard. Entering into a large space that seemed to take up the majority of the ship interior they could see several of the large beings.
Spread out among them though, in small groups were nine humans. Some dressed casually while others were in different armors of varying degrees of effectiveness. From someone with a medieval cuirass to people in more modern-looking gear. While one person had black full-covering armor that would fit perfectly as an enforcer in a dystopian sci-fi movie.
Pulling on Jacobs arm, Lisa started making her way further in towards one of the groups. Making sure to give the giants as wide a berth as she could. Maneuvering between the power-armored aliens they reached a human group of two men and a woman in matching armor.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
They gave the approaching pair a wary look before one of the men gave them a greeting nod. A moment of awkward silence passed before introductions were exchanged. The three people were named Ben,Oscar and Sofia. They'd been having a netflix marathon down the street, when they'd all blacked out last night. They had then come to the same conclusion as Jacob and Lisa about the potential risks of missing out on the mission.
The conversation had just started when a loud mechanical voice could be heard.
“Listen up humans! I'm captain Trak of the Purple petal.”
One of the aliens, this one in purple armor stepped into the room from further into the ship.
“I've been hired to make sure you newbies get to and from our destination in one piece. No more, no less.”
Turning his helmeted head from one human to the next he continued.
“You've all had the misfortune of coming under the jurisdiction of the Gibborim Loki. For this you have my sympathy. Now, you all probably have questions for me. So I'm going to get this over with quickly so that we can get on our way. Yes, the tasks are likely to be deadly. No, the Gibborim are not all assholes like the high and mighty Loki. My crew and I are Kref, our world have been in the ascendancy for generations. And lastly, if you damage my ship in any way I'll throw you out in two separate garbage bags. Now, I hope that I'm understood and that you're all ready.”
Turning to walk back through the door he came from he hesitated before addressing the humans again.
“One piece of advice for you all. It might seem a tempting way to earn points. But trust me, backstabbing your teammates never pays off in the long run.”
With that he disappeared, soon followed by the ramp closing and the Purple petal talking off with a jolt.
Almost losing his footing, Jacob saw that while the other humans didn't fare any better, the kref didn't seem to have noticed at all. Just standing along the walls, alone or in pairs.
Resuming the conversation, they found out what the Fibrous enhancement modification was. Oscar, who had selected it, told them that it caused nano-fibres to be woven through his body. Reinforcing his muscles, making them stronger and more durable. Most of his remaining points had been spent on armor. While he'd grabbed a crowbar from home.
The two other had both taken what they considered a more sensible approach. The same armor as Oscar, which looked a lot like the gear someone playing american football would wear. As well as 'Standard Slug-throwers'. Which looked a lot like common assault rifles Jacob had seen in movies.
They seemed surprised at Jacobs decision to take the Novice modification, not leaving any points for gear.
And all things said, Jacob was starting to feel a bit foolish, as he looked around at everyone, with their deadly-looking equipment. While he looked swollen from layers of clothing and merely carrying a baseball bat. He tried to cheer himself up with an internal mantra of 'I'm a fucking bad-ass wizard, I don't need to be envious'.
The mantra did little to cheer him up. Though he did feel like he'd hopefully be able to hold his own against whatever they'd encounter. After all. It was supposed to be a relatively easy mission wasn't it?
While talking with their new acquaintances he tensed and relaxed his legs and then arms. He had been feeling more and more exhausted after the practicing he'd done before they left. It had drained him to use his new implants, though he was feeling fairly recovered now. Reaching down into his bag he pulled up a sandwich. Unwrapping the cling-foil he took a bite before offering a second one to Lisa who declined. Shrugging he put it back and continued eating.
The conversation continued without him, until just before he finished the sandwich. A blare sounded through the hold, followed by a thud and Jacob falling on his ass when the floor jumped. The last piece of his sandwich making its daring escape somewhere he couldn't spot it.
“We have now arrived at our target destination. You are to disembark and complete your mission. We'll be here for extraction.” a kref robotic voice said. “Beware that typically if you extract before completion you won't receive full rewards, or even any. Sometimes there will even be a penalty. That said. Good hunting small ones.”
With that the ramp lowered and with trepidation they made their way out of the ship. The person with the full-covering black armor was the first to exit. Looking around cautiously, sweeping with what Jacob thought he recognized as an earth-made weapon. The AK-4. It made him suspect that the armored figure had been in the military. As that was the standard rifle of the Swedish armed forces
Exiting the vehicle, Jacob could see they were in a glade surrounded by trees. Typical Swedish forest with thick pine-trees. Breathing in the fresh air he sighed. Looking around, instead of finding a threat he heard a beep. Bringing up his left arm the interface displayed new text. Along with the image of a cartoon snake.
'New objective:
1. Survive until nightfall. +50 points.
Bonus objectives:
1.Entertain me. +variable.
2.Kill the unique specimen. +50points!
3. Have only five of you complete the mission. 100Points! You know you want them. -Loki
With a sinking feeling in his stomach upon reading the last line Jacob looked up at the others. Meeting their gazes he saw expressions ranging from horror to greed..