After a moment, I was able to navigate to the Direct Message function within my Menu. I had received a message from Dendrite.

[Dendrite4: Hey, Enzo. Where did you land? Do you see the green smoke?]

I looked around at the area around me for a few seconds before I responded. Tall leafy trees blocked my vision in just about all directions.

[EnzoTheBaker: I’m in a forest. The trees are blocking my vision.]

[Dendrite4: I see. Try to get somewhere with better sightlines. We should both be able to see the green smoke soon.]

I had only landed a few minutes ago. It was possible that the metal crate had simply not landed yet. Even if the crate had landed by that point, it was unlikely that the green smoke would have risen high enough for us to see it.

I opened my eyes and began to walk toward the collection of structures that had been built beyond the tree line. I wrapped my hand around the grip of my carbine and brought it up to low ready.

As I entered the small outpost of civilization, I immediately noticed that it was completely abandoned. There were about a dozen structures within that little settlement, yet I saw absolutely no signs of activity. I strained my ears for a moment, but I could not hear any movement from within the buildings.

I kicked open the door to one of the buildings and entered with my gun raised. I quickly checked every room, but I did not find any people. The only thing of note I found there was evidence of a frantic departure. Everything with practical or sentimental value had been removed from the house, but there was no evidence that it had been ransacked. Whoever had lived in that house had fled from something.

Once I had seen everything within the house, I stepped back out the front doors and walked toward the dirt road that cut through the center of the settlement. A single blue sign stood beside that road. The sign, like all of the other traffic signs I had seen back in Osiris City, was written in the inscrutable alphabet used by the Imperials. To the best of my recollection, I believe the sign read:

ꦙꦲ꦳ꦞꦪꦥꦿ’ꦥꦿꦮꦔꦕ ꦪꦥ꦳’ꦖꦊ

2 ꦠꦗ’ꦔꦪ ↑

Author's note: I apologize for forcing you to decipher my handwriting. This typewriter does not come with a typeset for Iron Script.

At the time, I had absolutely no knowledge of Iron Script. The top line of the sign meant absolutely nothing to me, and the only parts of the lower line that I could decipher were the two and the arrow pointing upward. Visually, the sign was identical to the traffic signs that I was used to on Earth, so I could infer some information. There was some location that was two distance units in the direction of the arrow. Without further information, I shrugged my shoulders and started walking down that dirt road.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

After a few minutes of walking, the number of trees around me began to lessen significantly. My sightlines opened up, and I started passing a number of buildings that were erected on each side of the road. The dirt road soon gave way to a paved road, and the buildings started to look nicer.

The buildings were still abandoned.

I soon spotted a pillar of green smoke rising into the air. At about a twenty-degree angle from the road, I saw the smoke. I stepped off the road and began to walk in the smoke’s direction. With one eye closed to use my Menu, I tapped a message out to Dendrite with my hand that wasn’t gripping my carbine.

[EnzoTheBaker: I’ve spotted the green smoke. I’m walking toward it now.]

[Dendrite4: Great! Where is it? I’m still in a forest.]

[EnzoTheBaker: I don’t know, man. The thing landed near the City of Threshold, I think? Start heading in the direction of denser buildings, and you should be able to find it.]

[Dendrite4: Okay. Got it.]

I continued walking in the direction of the smoke. My carbine remained in the low-ready position as I walked. If some threat showed itself, I would be ready to engage.

The M4 was essentially decorative, though. Any threat I was aware of could only harm me after several minutes of concerted effort. Even the power of a Dark Apostle could not easily break through Battle Aura. Plus, the force I could apply with my fist was probably stronger than any bullet that could be used by small arms.

The metal crate had landed in the backyard of a three-story house. I approached slowly and peered around a corner as I arrived at the location of the crate’s landing zone.

When I finally put my eyes on the metal crate, I saw that three Goblins had congregated around it. They held bolt-action rifles in gnarled hands, and they wore ragged clothing that merely approximated the kind of clothing worn by humans. Their skin was a light green color, and their noses were closer to pigs’ snouts than that of humans.

Just as I had done several times before, I leaned out of cover and began firing at the Deluvians. With extreme speed and deadly precision, I put two bullets into the chest of every Goblin near the metal crate. None of them had fully realized what was happening before the last Goblin fell to the ground. It was all over in less than two seconds.

Screaming and thrashing like dying animals, the Goblins collapsed to the ground and died. I rose from my firing position and began to jog toward the metal crate. By the time I reached it, the last of the three Goblins had already died and begun turning into undifferentiated ash.

As I peered down at the disintegrating corpses, I noticed that a roman numeral XIII had been branded on one of their shoulders. It was then that I realized my mistake. I activated my Direct Message function.

[EnzoTheBaker: Do you hear the sound of gunshots?]

[Dendrite4: Yeah?]

[EnzoTheBaker: That’s me. Come toward the sound of gunfire.]

[Dendrite4: What are you shooting at?]

[EnzoTheBaker: Some Goblins.

[Dendrite4: Why?]

[EnzoTheBaker: Muscle memory. I kind of forgot that we’re allies now.]

[Dendrite4: Okay. On my way.]