This was not the day Nick had signed up for. He paced back and forth outside the large red space ship where his buddy Alan had decided to make his home base. He kicked a piece of rubble and grumbled, “This place is a dump.” Adrian sat calmly watching his friend.

Nick continued his brood internally. It hadn’t started out so bad, he’d been able to come to Cosmos. The most epic, cutting edge, and supposedly fun game ever invented!

That's what he was told, and it started off pretty good. First he’d made himself feel stronger and faster than he had ever been in his life.Than he was able to get in some target practice. Not so bad. After that things had just gone downhill. The guns, ring, and adventure didn’t seem all that great...He kicked up another pile of dust, deciding it hadn’t just been a long day, but a terrible one at that.

“What’s gotten into you man?” Adrian finally asked. “You’ve been grouchy ever since we started exploring”

“I don’t know” Nick continued to stomp.

“Come on man, you’ll feel better once you tell me.” Adrian pressed, knowing his friend all too well.

“It hasn’t been much of a day. All we’ve done is drive around a dump with that self-important Shelley.”

“She seemed alright to me.”

Nick huffed, gesturing at his huge frame. “What kind of girl seriously takes one 4-wheeler all to herself and let’s me and you ride together?”

“Uh-huh. I mean she’s a little obsessed with this whole business thing, but honestly she seemed pretty chill at lunch." He said skeptically, "But honestly man, if it was such a big deal why didn’t you say anything to Alan or me, we could have shared?”

Nick just glared and kicked up another rock. Adrian had to stop from laughing, as he realized something. “I’m not buying man, you practically worship the rules of chivalry. I get that it was a little uncomfortable, but that can’t be the whole story. Is there something else going on?”

Nick clenched his fist, “Dang it!” He stormed farther away from the ship, kicking up dust as he went. He looked down at the ring on his finger. He fiddled with the ring for a little bit, a feeling of shame hitting him. No, Shelley hadn’t been the real problem. Sure she seemed a little self-important and a bit uptight. But that wasn’t what had gotten him down...

Adrian had shocked him this morning, after they had started their ride together to go look at the ships. Adrian had let him know that Alan probably dropped a huge sum of money on all the guns, ammo, and rings he’d bought them this morning. Nick had assumed that the guns and ammo were pretty standard, like any other game, and he hadn’t even bothered to look at the price of the rings, since Alan had said he would buy one for him. And all he’d done was complain about his gun and hadn’t even properly thanked Alan for the ring. “I’m a jerk…” He mumbled, more to himself than to the Adrian who had followed along.

Turning around, he was surprised to find Adrian standing still, with his AR-15 drawn. “Woah dude, I know I’ve been irritable….” He didn’t get to finish. Before Adrian cut him off.

“GET DOWN!” .

Adrian raised his rifle to point somewhere above Nick’s head. The muzzle flashed, Ra-ta-ta!

Nick paled and and dropped to the ground. He felt the heat of the gunfire, as he scrambled away.

Turning to look behind him, Nick looked up to see a dark shadow descending upon him directly out of the sun. Rolling away quickly, he narrowly avoided a pair of large sharpened talons, so close the air felt like razors tearing at his clothes.

“What the…” Nick summoned his rifle, as he caught sight of the shadow rising quickly into the sky. Chills ran down his arms, as he raised his gun to let out a stream of shots toward the speedy assailant which had, in near silence, nearly grasped him. His shots went wide, but he was able to see more clearly what he was facing.

Two bleached wings beat upward, its mammoth movements creating gusting blasts, scouring the area below. It banked, giving Nick a full view of the monster. It had the form of a great vulture, though twisted and mutated. It's massive head, had a red streaked beak, and lesions pocketed it’s leathery white skin. It completed its turn, lining up directly with Nick, a single yellow eye bearing down on him, it’s other eye missing, only a blackened charred hole of where it had been.

In a near panic, Nick bolted toward a nearby 4 wheeler for cover, as the creature dove. Adrian, recovering from the initial attack, coolly raised his rifle and emptied the remainder of his magazine at the creature.

He cursed as shots flew wide, passing over the foul carrion beast. The bird let out a piercing screech. Adrian looked in horror as it once dove, clawing for Nick. Adrian scrambled to reload his weapon. Nick tried to tuck behind the small vehicle, hoping it would provide some meager protection for his large frame. He felt the vehicle move forward suddenly, as the sound of bone on metal assaulted his ears. A single 8 inch talon lashed out, lacerating Nick across the shoulder, causing him to roll forward. The bleached vulture once again took to the sky, a 4-wheeler clutched for a moment in its claws. It dropped it unceremoniously, a faint gleam of recognition in its one cruel eye that its prey had escaped once again, but not unscathed.

Adrian rushed forward toward Nick. He’d see how the talons had pierced right through the metal carriage of the 4 wheeler with ease and feared the worst for his friend. Looking down, Nick was rolled onto his stomach, a gash going from the top of his shoulder down to his side. Grabbing the other arm, Adrian desperately began to pull the far too heavy Nick toward The Brick’s walls.

The monster carrion bird turned once again, at the same moment both Alan and Shelley burst out of the ship, weapons ready. Alan with his gauntlets and Shelley with a large futuristic rifle , blue streaks along the length of the barrell. Adrian only had to turn briefly, and point at the bird preparing for another dive before both of them raised their weapons to fire. Shelley opened fire first, pulses of blue energy streaked across the space, and unlike Adrian’s shots, seemed to almost be drawn to the bird, as round after round flew into the bird. Alan was quick to follow beach ball sized masses of energy flew out of his hand, struck the bird, sending ripples of energy across it.

Canceling it’s dive, the chalky white vulture howled in frustration. Ascending quickly, the bird continued screeching in frustration, as it did so, it’s skin turned from white to a deep red. It’s howls seemed to shift in timber, growing increasingly piercing, until it suddenly stopped. By that time, Alan and Shelley both winced in pain from the sound and it took everything in Adrian’s power to not stop dragging the dazed Nick and cover his own ears instead.

Having stopped their fire, Alan and Shelley looked first in confusion and then in horror as the lesions on the bright red vulture began to burst. Ejecting black round objects from the bird's body. Simultaneously, the red body began to grow pale rapidly. And as it did so, the wounds both from the lesion and Shelley’s shots began to heal almost instantly. And, to top it all off, both noticed that not one but two angry yellow eyes bore down on the small group.

During the moments Adrian had managed to pull Nick near to the walls of The Brick. Nick groaned back into consciousness and managed to sit up with Adrian’s assistance.

“Who invited Big Bird?” Nick said half jokingly.

“Don’t worry about it man. We’ll take care of it.” Adrian said reassuringly.

“Well you better, guy just ruined my new shirt.” Nick pressed his bleeding shoulder to the wall and took out his pistol.

“Yeah, well Alan and Shelley should be able to take care of it.” Adrian took out another magazine.

At that moment a few dozen objects, expelled from the Vulture, landed heavily like black golf ball sized hail across the ground. The balls then unraveled and elongated into what looked like foot long weevils. After a few moments a message seemed to pass between them, and they began scurrying, like water down a stream, over the ground. But in case they moved in one of two directions. Either toward Alan and Shelley or to the wounded Nick and Adrian.

Shelley’s face cringed in disgust, “I am so, going to have to see my dermatologist after this.”

“I don’t think Dr. Pimple Popper has seen anything like this” Alan readied his gauntlets.

Without saying more, both parties opened fire on the nearing swarms.

As the bugs moved closer, distracting the group. The vulture landed, unable to dive so close to the ship's walls. It began to prowl in the direction of Nick and Adrian. Unsurprisingly, the group's weapons were lethal toward the weevils, however, the swarm zigged and zagged, avoiding most of the hot lead and energy pulses. And whenever there was a break in the fire. They seemed to dash, ever closer.

Seeing the inevitability of the oncoming swarm, Nick drove himself to his feet and pulled Adrian back.

“I got this!” He leapt forward, sprinting to intercept the dozens of bugs, using his pistol like a hammer. At first, after killing 2 of the bugs, it seemed like his desperate play had paid off until they began to cling and bite his body, causing him to stumble to his knees. The entire swarm, sensing a kill, veered away from Shelley and Alan, toward the now writhing Nick.

Alan and Shelley, now free to redirect their fire, shot once again toward the closer approaching Vulture. Shelley's shots continued to hit their mark, while Alan had altered his weapon to fire the blue ark lightning, but in shorter bursts. The beast continued its approach running toward the still struggling Nick, intent on the kill. While every shot fired, removed a chunk of newly healed flesh from its body. It moved forward, unconcerned as its skin sizzled, driven by hunger.

The beast suddenly reared up, pausing suddenly, pupils dilated, as if sensing danger. Readying its wings as if it were about spring in flight, an explosion ripped outward at the side of it’s head. Causing the newly healed eye to char and burn, throwing the bird side long, crashing toward the ground.

Looking toward the direction of where the shot must have originated, the small party of Earthlings spotted a figure springing up from a low lying hill of rubble. The figure, clad in black armor, sprinted toward them carrying a weapon, longer than the length of their body that resembled a miniature howitzer.

Alan could distinctly hear the sound of the runner shout, “Kill the bugs!”.

Sensing the figures' urgency, the small group’s attention was immediately drawn back to Nick, who instead of fighting the bugs, was on his knees surrounded by a dozen corpses of the little weevils, while the remainder of the bugs had all moved toward the now stricken bird. Opening fire again. Shelly, Alan and Adrian all let out a barrage of shots, to intercept them, massacring what had remained of the bugs.

The vulture, stunned momentarily, began to stir, its remaining eye blazing with hatred as it caught sight of the small black corpses, that had been so desperate to try and approach it. The bird then turned to face the oncoming figure. Who, faster than humanly possible, had closed the distance, and, after a quick reload, lightly drew up their cannon to take another shot. The monstrous carrion bird, in retaliation, charged forward toward the approaching new threat -- talons tearing the earth, beak wide, a screech piercing the air. The black figure seemed to sneer, and with subtle ease fired, a shot with another recoil to throw Alan back into next week. Not waiting to see the damage, the mysterious figure then drew a long lithe blade.

The shot rang true, so close it was impossible to dodge. Alan thought for a brief moment that the bird seemed afraid, desperate to flee from the battlefield, and seek cover in the clouds. Instead the blast slammed once again into the vulture skull, both blinding and stunning it simultaneously. The figure, now only meters away from the stunned bird, did not hesitate but leapt forward, as if flying through the air, and drove their saber into the remains of the bird's head.

The wretched bird stood frozen, not a muscle twinged along its massive frame, except, after a beat, to finally collapse where it stood.

It was eerily quiet as the rhythm of battle died, as the sounds of gunfire and explosion echoed into silence and the world seemed muted. It was only the wracking coughs of Nick which brought the world's sound into equilibrium. Alan rushed over to his friend, while keeping an eye on the new arrival. The figure was large, nearly 7 feet in height, clad in full black armor, and sported a full helmet with tinted visor.

“Oh, man.” Alan moved to his friend's side, he was covered in fine black dust, and his clothes were torn to near shreds. His back, nearly covered in blood.

“How bad is it?” Nick asked between coughs. “I feel like I’ve been rolled into a briar patch”

“Let me get a closer look.” Alan removed a jug of water from his ring, and poured it on his friend clean of the dirt and blood. Most of Nick’s shirt disintegrating from the mild wash.

A garbled voice came from behind. “It’s amazing he is still conscious. The tac-tac worm likes to burrow deep into its victims flesh. Killing them instantly.”

Alan too, was surprised, but grew even more so when he discovered that aside from the large gash on his friend's back, he had no other bleeding wounds, but was covered in hundreds of deep red and purple welts and bite marks.

“Hmm.” The garbled voice commented. “It seems your friend must have iron skin. The talon should have taken off his arm.” The figure commented casually, before moving toward the bird carcass, taking out an obviously well used, but meticulously cared for knife.

“Heh, you should’ve known how thick skinned I was?” Nick grinned through the pain, catching Alan's attention. “I can handle anything.”

“Well you nearly fooled me.” Alan removed a healing nanite spray, shooting the healing liquid on his back and the more severely bitten areas.

Nick laughed painfully, before growing serious, “Hey, I’m sorry about earlier, I shouldn’t have been such a jerk.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Alan comforted his clearly exhausted friend. “Next time, I’ll make sure you get your own ride. It looks like I’m going to have to get a new one anyway.”

“No, no, you don’t get it man. It was never about the ride, he looked over at Shelley apologetically. Well, not completely. It was more about all the money you just dropped on us…” He trailed off.

“Hey,” Alan cut in. “It’s not a problem. Let’s talk about later.” He smiled reassuringly to his friend, and stood up to introduce himself to the stranger. Turning around he saw the stranger had their hands deep into the monster's chest, removing a large piece of nyamisium ore, E grade for sure, maybe even D grade.

Behind him, Shelley bent down and whispered a brief “Thank you.” To a battle scarred, but much more at ease Nick.

When a message popped up in front of him.

The first successful hunt has been completed in your territory. Per default settings, as owner of this territory, you collect 5% in value of all the harvested materials. Those not in compliance may be labeled as outlaws, and are subject to the laws of this area.

When he finished reading, he simultaneously felt the eyes of the mysterious figure on him behind their tinted visor.