It wasn’t the first time things hadn’t gone Sally’s way. That was kind of the point of living your unlife as someone who went against the odds to do the right thing. It was just… things had been on a downward trend ever since they had arrived on this world.

  Being split up. Each of them got into their own trouble. Then, just as they were about to reconvene, Jackie had been killed and taken out of the world.

  She glared down at the cat, half tempted to threaten him over the worth of this mission. Of course, learning about the enemy was worth the effort spent, but she didn’t understand the need to cloud the alternate reason he wanted the Outsiders to come here.

  “Jackie says there are five Radoch ships,” Bully informed them, his hand up to the side of his head. “They all fired a similar shot, but are now releasing troops. They don’t travel in small parties, either.”

  The zombie moved a branch to glare back at the ship hanging over the ruined town. Dark tendrils were snaking their way from the underside of the large craft, making their way down to the ground.

  Edward was leaning against a tree, arms crossed and blind eyes closed. “How does this compare to the force coming for Sanctuary?”

  Archie sat staring at the spaceship, his tail flicking from side to side. “Reports are still inconclusive. Possibly between five and ten times this size.”

  Things would be different back home. Sally narrowed her eyes as the first tendril made touchdown and small dots of the invading force moved down the beam. While Chuck couldn’t flick a switch and make everyone god-like in power for the invasion, there were so many tricks up his sleeve it made the prospect of Sanctuary being attacked unthinkable.

  It was rare that the Architect used his power in a violent way, but he would go to any length to protect their world. So would she, which led to her next question.

  “Alright, furball. How many Players are actually on this world?” She raised a finger. “Just the one, right? Me.”

  Archie turned his emerald eyes away from the invaders to give her a silent nod.

  The Death Knight shuffled in place. “Has this always been a Player-less world?”

  “Yeah, Arch.” Sally crossed her arms. “Why not tell us the real stakes here? Exposition time.”

  While the cat closed his eyes and sighed, he eventually turned to address the gathered Outsiders. “The primary goal of our mission is to scout out the Radoch threat. However, there are several other worlds also under attack during this time frame.”

  “So we’re here specifically.” Edward raised an eyebrow.

  “Correct. This world is one of the most stable, with some of the most advanced System-created we’ve ever come across.” The cat tilted his head to the side. “That probably makes the current proceedings, including your prior involvement, morally gray. It’s difficult to quantify the creatures here as Uniques as such, but-”

  “And why are they all like that?” Sally pressed, leaning in closer to the cat.

  Archie gulped. “There is… a certain power here. Part of me that I had lost long ago.”

  Humphrey scratched the side of his head. “Not content to split yourself into several cats, you also lost yourself to the Sea?”

  “It’s difficult to explain. It could be that my tenure in Sanctuary wasn’t my first System world.”

  Sally continued glaring at the cat, with her arms crossed. There would be some dry humor in what he was saying if Archie was originally a world-hopping Architect trying to fix broken or abandoned worlds. Ironic, maybe.

  “This is like your horcrux, then? A failsafe for if you died along your journey?” she asked. Some of the ire left her expression, and she glanced back at the invasion. “If we get you this, it’ll be extra power against the bugs.”

  “All questions I wish I could answer with certainty.” The cat followed her gaze to the army of monsters being beamed down into the ruined town. “All I know is, part of my soul seeks it. This place is as familiar as if it were a former home.”

  Edward tutted and shook his head. “Kill an overwhelming number of bad guys and loot some special treasure. Sounds just like what the Outsiders are good at. Am I wrong?”

  If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  Sally shot him a wry grin, which he was unable to appreciate, before turning her attention to the Death Knight. “How are you feeling, Pops? Ready to find something worthy of a duel?”

  “Yes. You had me at duel, ha-ha.”

  Jackie worked the pen she had been chewing on from one side of her mouth to the other.

  Although she wasn’t the most technically literate among them, she could still work the functions of the STAR-based monitors of the Omen. There were just certain… oddities that made her question her competence.

  She had zoomed in on the first ship to start dropping Radochs, in the northwest of the world. The giant cockroach aliens were unmistakable, but it was the number of them that furrowed her brow. From all that she had been told, they were collectors. To see so many wage a war against a relatively small planet was confusing.

  That was until she received the transcription of the conversation Sals and her pals were having. The oversized bugs had clearly gotten a sniff of the power the cat was talking about, and wanted to take it at any cost.

  Would she still have come along for this if she had known the ulterior motive? Probably. Roaches still needed squashing. The more they could stomp on now, the less would infest her home.

  The pen stopped moving in her mouth as she narrowed her eyes further, and zoomed in more.

  Some very strange shapes appeared under the shadow of the first spacecraft.

  Seems the bugs had brought a few friends along with them.

  Sally slid across the charred road and put her back up against a brick wall that was still standing. The Death Knight kneeled down beside her to stay behind the cover. It might not be the best plan, but it was the first of many attempts.

  The rest of the Outsiders were back in the woods. None of them were particularly suited for the combat about to happen, for one reason or another. What she wouldn’t give to have Theo here. Together, they could blot out the sun with corpses. It seemed to be sour narrative fiat that when a real trial came up; they were always separated.

  Still, her adoptive father was a close second.

  “Ready for some father-daughter bonding time?” he asked, the flame behind his helmet flickering wildly.

  “Let’s see if you’ve still got it, old man.”

  Plan number one. Poke the bear and see how soft it is.

  Humphrey vaulted over the wall and started to barrel down the next street. Sally followed close behind, almost as his shadow. Dark tendrils loomed overhead as the Radochs continued to descend around them.

  The Death Knight burst around the corner and came face to face with the first of the alien invaders.

  A group of three giant cockroaches with soft brown chitinous plates. Their white eyes went wide at seeing the massive knight appear, an oversized greatsword in his hands. Before they could react, Humphrey bisected the first with a massive upswing of his weapon.

  Sally darted in beneath his arms and slashed through the second with several motions of her Skeleton Key, the dagger moving through the monster as if it was made of butter.

  The third turned and tried to run, right before a group of zombies burst out from the alley beside the building and dragged it to the ground.

  “Must be newbies.” Sally wiped her dagger off on her hip. “Didn’t even get any experience.”

  She kneeled down briefly to check them for loot.

  [Radoch Heart]

  [The calcified innards of a dead Radoch]

  [Initiate’s Badge (Unbound)]

  [Player Kills: 0/50 for next Upgrade]

  [+All Stat Effectiveness (Minor)]

  “They were newbies.” She sighed and stood up. “Now I will have to loot their hearts as macabre trophies. Such is unlife.”

  The badge was interesting. It seemed as though the Radochs earned some kind of promotion from killing enough Players. Since there were none on this world, it seemed rather useless, but it had probably reset once she had looted it. After briefly wondering what would happen if she bound to it back on Sanctuary, she stowed the thoughts away and followed Humphrey.

  Their brief scuffle must have been heard, as several cockroaches ran around the next corner to meet them. Weapons already drawn. Four with swords and shields, two with large crossbows. Much easier to wield with four hands.

  Meat Hook took her over past the ones in front, and she buried her dagger in the face of the first ranged Radoch. Their soft brown coloration must also have indicated how young and inexperienced they were. Humphrey collided with the group, right before her zombies joined the fray.

  Sally spun her blade and looted six more hearts. After pulling the large bolt from her shoulder, magical thread worked its way through the wound, drawing it closed.

  “Seems we have been found.” Humphrey pointed down toward the end of the street.

  A group of at least twenty initiates led by a slightly larger Radoch were marching their way toward the pair.

  Sally limbered up her back. “If this is all they have for their main forces, we’ll be done in no time. I’ve barely started sharpening my teeth.”

  The Death Knight grunted and raised his sword ready. “Call it a sixth sense, but I don’t think that-”

  He was cut off as the building beside them exploded. Sally rolled across the ground, the shimmering energy of Humphrey’s protective aura shielding her from most of the damage. They both looked up at something that wasn’t a Radoch, now standing in the ruins of the building.

  The closest creature Sally could compare it to was a snail. Instead of a long slimy foot, this monster instead had dozens of centipede-like legs. The shell was a constructed howdah, full of cockroaches armed with spear-guns. Four giant eyes sat above a slack maw of circular teeth.

  [Radioactive Haemonolith (Level 67 Elite)]

  As her zombies rushed in to get the first bite of the large monster, they stumbled to the ground, their flesh melting away before even getting to the creature.

  Sally pulled a face and looked back down the street. The regiment of bugs was almost upon them, and she didn’t fancy trying to regenerate an irradiated face. Not a second time. With a sigh, she gave the Death Knight a nod. “Time for a toast.”

  He brought out a slim vial of purple liquid and tapped it against the one she was now holding. The pair downed the potions right as the first spears and bolts fired on their position.

  A flash of pink light enveloped them before they disappeared.