Jhena’s eyes shot open. She could get away without sleeping if she truly wished, but found she still preferred at least a few hours here or there.

Besides, she wasn’t in the military anymore. What was going on out there, wasn’t her responsibility. She was only doing it because…well.

She wasn’t sure.

But it was something to do. And even a week later, there was still plenty of it to go around.

Her armor suit grew around her as she rose from her bed. She waved hand over the table, steaming hot plate of breakfast appearing. She ate quickly, washing it down with a iorlan spice latte. She let out a sigh as her nanobots dismantled the cup and plate.

Well, time to get to work.

She stepped outside just as a four-legged war-walker stepped past her apartment. A pair of armored soldiers walked up to her.

“You there! What are you doing here? All civilians were instructed to evacuate.”

Jhena raised her wrist and pressed a button, a holographic certificate appearing above it.

“Bounty Hunter.”

The soldier stood still for a moment, before shrugging.

“Your funeral, hunter. But if you actually intend to do some hunting, just stay out of our way.”

Jhena left without another word, walking through the city. Whatever had happened, the one silver lining was she could find work without talking to anyone now.

She just had to walk around until she heard the screams.

Once she did, she unpacked her thrusters and blasted into the air, soaring as she located her target.

There.

A pair of giant humanoids, each as tall as a three story structure lumbered through the street, heading towards a convoy of civilians. A war-walker stood between them. It rose on four spider-like legs extending from a spherical torso, large turrets on the top and bottom of the machine. Its barrels glowed with a bright green light before two blasts of plasma surged from the walker, plowing into one of the giants. The bolts pierced through the giant’s head and heart, and it fell to the street with a crash.

The other giant snarled and roared, then charged down the street. The walker turned its guns, but the giant reached it first, slamming shoulder-first into the war-machine. The walker lurched back, trying to stabilize. The giant brought its hands together by its side, and then swung them horizontally into the vehicle. The walker slammed into a nearby skyscraper, sending glass and metal raining into the streets. The giant grabbed two of the walker’s legs and pulled, dropping the machine’s torso to the ground.

And then the walker lifted a foot, preparing to stomp on the vehicle.

Which is when Jhena made her move.

She spun around so that her foot faced the giant, her thrusters spinning around to face the other way. As she blasted towards the creature, she extended her foot, a blade growing from it. A line of plasma surrounded the blade.

And so it appeared that a shooting star fell upon the giant, piercing its heart.

Jhena flew straight through the giant, the blade receding once she passed it. She landed on the street with a single roll forward.

And then the giant crashed into the street.

You have slain Level 51 Giant!

Earned…

She waved her hand to clear the message. And that was the annoying part of all this. No, she didn’t care how much ‘experience’ or ‘level ups’ she got. And no, she was not going to check her ‘status’, no matter how many times the system-thing asked.

She had seen enough of it.

Just let her do her job in peace.

Speaking of which, a gunship flew through the sky, landing in front of her. She let out a sigh.

For the love…how many times would she have to tell them off?

She turned to leave, her thrusters extending from her back. They began to glow…

“Sergeant Major Jhena Cuuhl.”

She froze. That raspy, chittering voice…

“No.”

“We need your help.”

“No.”

She turned around, crossing her arms. She let out a sigh, and gave a reluctant salute.

There was only one person who deserved that from her.

Standing at 5 foot even, a Thrucax, two arms held cross behind him, the other two on the guns at his hip. He wore a helmet, one hole for his good antenna, the other long burned off. He had on a suit of armor instead of the officer uniform his rank would typically demand.

She always appreciated that about him. Never afraid to join the fight.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I’m not aware of your current rank.”

He made the chittering sound of Thrucax laughter.

“Colonel, as you remember. They still haven’t forgiven me for punching that admiral, I’m afraid.”

She let out a sigh and crossed her arms again.

“Sorry, but they aren’t forgiving you today. The answer is no, even for you, Colonel Dagurx.”

The Colonel simply nodded his head.

“I understand. And if it were not for present circumstances, I’d have punched anyone who suggested it.”

“But you’re still going to ask. Knowing everything you do.”

His facial chitin started turning blue.

“...I am.”

“...”

“Look…Jhena. You’ve seen what’s going on, right? Thing is, it’s not just this world.”

Jhena froze.

“What?”

“It’s not this system, or even this sector. This is happening everywhere.”

“...that’s not possible.”

“Everywhere we’ve heard from, every ally and trading partner. We’ve even got word the Qhungrul Hierarchy’s been affected.”

“...”

“And…we think we know the cause.”

Jhena’s eyes narrowed.

“...are you serious?”

“Afraid so.”

“All the more reason for me not to go.”

The Colonel’s good antenna twitched around in the air as his chitin flashed red.

“Agreed. But the fact is…we still need you, Jhena.”

“Why?”

“Because you took down a dragon.”

“I’m not the only one.”

“Oh sure. There’s thousands, even. Thousands who were riding a battleship. Meanwhile you did it on foot. Alone.”

“...you have plenty of battleships. You don’t need one person.”

“I think we do. The way this thing works…well from what we can tell there’s no limit to how strong you can get. Which means there’s no limit to how strong the enemy can, either. I think…we’re going to need someone on our side who can win any fight, no matter the odds. And there’s only one person who fits that criteria.”

Jhena stood still for a moment. She lowered her arms, now wrapped around her sides instead of crossed in front of her. She spoke softly, almost in a whisper.

“...I can’t go back.”

Colonel Dagurx stepped forward, and tapped her shoulder twice with his antenna. Jhena’s eyes widened.

Physical contact like that would leave a Thrucax covered in pheromones. It’d be like blaring a siren into a human’s ear for a week straight.

It’s something you don’t do to a Thrucax, ever.

“I won’t ask you to. I’m not here to recruit Jhena Cuuhl. I’m here to hire Eclipse. Standard Guild contract for war-time mercenary work. You aren’t a part of our hierarchy, you don’t answer to anyone there. Your contract is solely with me. I propose targets, you decide if the target is good, and, if so, when and how to deal with it. You can leave whenever you want, as long as you’re not actively engaged during an operation you agreed to. That’s it. Just think of it as part of what you’re up to now.”

Jhena looked down, her eyes quivering slightly.

“If there was anyone else, if the situation was anything less than it is, that’s where I’d be, Jhena. But we need you, there’s no way out of that. I promise you this, anyone gives you crap, I’ll sock ‘em in the jaw, whatever their rank.”

The Colonel chittered lightly once more.

“If you come with, maybe I’ll go ahead and sock Admiral Xael’Tesh anyways, just for old times sake.”

Jhena couldn’t help herself from smiling lightly.

“Please don’t, you’re the only one I don’t want demoted.”

“Girl, if they could demote me, they’d have done it a long time ago.”

Jhena shook her head, then heaved a sigh.

“You think they’re right, about the cause?”

“I am.”

“And you think…we can stop it?”

“I have my doubts about that.”

The Colonel stood on his toes, getting as close to staring her straight in the eye as his body would allow. He then gestured around at the devastated city streets.

“But I know what will happen if we don’t. And so I’m going to do everything I can.”

Jhena let out another sigh.

“...I can’t promise I won’t shoot anyone.”

The Colonel chittered once more and backed away.

“I’d be somewhat disappointed if you didn’t! You riding with us?”

She shook her head.

“I’ll meet you there.”

Just then another explosion rang out in the distance.

“...I’m going to vent a bit first.”

Jhena sat in a conference room, arms crossed. She expanded her armor to the size of light power armor, and tinted her visor. She also added nogrine lining to her helmet. With so many species present, you never knew who was listening.

Especially since even the Qhungrul Hierarchy sent a representative today.

Colonel Dagurx entered the room, along with a human admiral. Jhena sighed as the pair approached, the admiral extending his hand.

“Admiral Kim. Sergeant Major Cuuhl, it’s good to see you.”

With that the room was filled with whispers and pointing.

“Cuuhl? As in Jhena Cuuhl? No way…”

“I thought she died. Didn’t she have that last stand at the Siege of Ebrilia?”

“I thought she was a myth. Blatant human propaganda if you ask me.”

“No, she’s very real. Our Ar’on Free State didn’t even gain independence until she killed the Qhungrul Hierarch in single combat. If she's here, then...”

Jhena sighed and crossed her arms, and nodded her head towards Colonel Dagurx.

“Ah, Admiral, about that. Officially, Sergeant Major Cuuhl isn’t here, sir. This is the bounty hunter Eclipse, who I have personally hired to work with me. And who will leave the moment she feels uncomfortable, sir.”

Admiral Kim rubbed his chin before heaving a sigh.

“I see, you have my apologies. At this point I’m just glad you’re here, in any sort of capacity. In any case, let’s get started.”

Everyone took their seats and Admiral Kim walked to the center of the room.

“Thank you for coming, everyone. We’re short on time so I’ll get right to it.”

Admiral Kim took a deep breath.

“We know why this is happening, and we think we can stop it.”

The room exploded into whispers, chatters, and questions at that. Admiral Kim raised a hand, and then turned on a holographic display. It showed a large metal arc, components and wires visible on its sides.

“Please note that what you are about to see is top-secret United Human Planets information. This is Project Bridge, an experimental warp gate being developed by The Excelsior Group.”

Jhena’s eyes narrowed. Of course, it would be them.

“And how is this related?”

“Because this is a true warp gate. No more traveling to hyperlane entry points, moving one system at a time. No spending decades traveling from one side of the galaxy to the other. This thing, if successful, could cross any distance in range within moments. And its theoretical range…was to another galaxy.”

Silence permeated the room. Intergalactic exploration and colonization. Laughable. A pipe dream.

Until it wasn’t.

The Admiral sighed and pressed another button.

“And this…is the day we first tested it. One week ago.”

The arc hummed to life, a blue vortex spinning in the center. The scientists suddenly started to panic and run about, the vortex grew wider and wider.

And then a group of orcs stepped out of it.

“Wait, you’re saying…”

“The warp gate did not connect two points in space, but rather reached beyond the boundary of our universe. Into another one entirely.”

“...so the UHP is responsible for all this?”

“Not really. The warp gate wasn’t supposed to activate at all. It was a test of its systems. We believe it was opened from the other side. And clearly whatever happened was not reliant on our technology, as the gate itself collapsed soon afterwards, yet the portal remains.”

“A likely tale, Admiral.”

“As you can see here, we have footage of the creatures, and have interrogated a few ourselves. The ones who appeared across the galaxy are little more than mindless beasts, monsters who seek nothing more than death and destruction. But the ones who come from the portal? Intelligent, organized.”

The Admiral paused, looking over the room.

“And they speak of a Dark Lord, who conquered the entirety of his world, and now seeks to conquer ours.”

Silence permeated the room once more.

“...so what do we do?”

“We’re preparing to assault the portal. We’ll send a force to the other side who will either defeat this Dark Lord and put an end to his invasion, or failing that, find a way to close the portal. We’re asking for your support on this mission.”

“...that’s a tall ask, Admiral. Rushing into some accidental portal into a dangerous world we know nothing about? All in hopes that there’s some sort of ‘Dark Lord’ we can defeat?”

“I know it sounds crazy. But no less crazy than dragons attacking from the skies. You’ve all seen the casualty reports from a single week of this. If there’s any chance we can stop it, we have to take it.”

Everyone took a moment to think to themselves. One of them turned to Jhena.

“Sergeant Major Cuuhl, what’s your take on this?”

She sighed and crossed her arms.

“I’m only here as a bounty hunter. And as a bounty hunter, I don’t care about all of this. Just give me the target and the coordinates, I’ll take them down, take my credits, and then take my leave. End of story.”

Everyone turned to look at each other.

“Well crap.”

“She’s right. Just another day in the office, right?”

“We took on the Qhungrul for goodness sake! What’s a couple of dragons going to do?”

“...we’re here too, you know. Be mindful of your words.”

Colonel Dagurx chittered.

“For someone who always hated motivational speeches, you’re surprisingly good at them.”

Jhena sighed.

“...just get me to the fighting already.”