The Saga of Blakhawke: Steele's story

Chapter 1: Impact

    I wake up, my head pounding, there’s someone else's blood spattered on my face, and the distinct smell of leaking mechanical fluids fills my nostrils. My eyes open to a scene that a day ago would have traumatized me: four National Guardsmen lie dead, one with his head caved in by falling debris. We’re all still strapped to the seats of the Blackhawk, and the other rescued people who were in the helicopter are nowhere to be seen. As I reach next to me and pull the Bayonet out of the scabbard on the chest of the guardsman next to me, a Corporal Numan, killed by the impact of the copter, I think back to how the hell this started.

    It was 7am by the time the LIRR train pulled into Penn Station. I stepped out of the train, and onto a platform I had walked out to for a decade now. It was familiar, though the smell was always the same; the same old city grime mixed with the smells of restaurants and fast-food places on the floor above. I had taken the first steps on having a proper, full time career. After obtaining a NY state security license, I had a contact reach out to security firms to find me a job, and one reached out to me. Within the week, an interview was done, and I got the job.

    To say I was nervous was completely understating things. But, the master of bullshit I was, on the outside I put up a calm, cool and collected facade. The city air was slightly better than I had remembered. The streets were busy and the sidewalks were filled with people walking to and from work. I quickly joined the masses as I wandered down the streets. This was the first time I had been in the city without anyone else, not friends nor family, and while I would have liked to have moved out of state for work, my current circumstances wouldn’t allow for such.

    Sooner or later, I found myself lost. I was fortunate enough to still have almost 2 hours to reorient myself, but getting lost was just about the last thing I wanted to do in a major city. I sighed and sat on a bench, taking out my phone to see where I was in relation to where I needed to be. Cell reception and wireless connectivity was acting up, which I thought was odd. This was goddamn New York City after all. Looking around, it seemed that other people were having the same issue. Perhaps the wrath of the boomer had been made manifest? Had their collective will blocked out all wireless connection? The thought of the boomer uprising made me chuckle a bit, and I waited a little while longer for something to finally connect.

    5 minutes passed, then 10, and 20. Still nothing. Someone walking past muttered swore at their phone under their breath, and I could sympathise a bit. It looked like someone had fucked up big time in maintaining the towers, oh how wrong I was. I started walking again, and I noticed the atmosphere was a bit more tense. People started talking, looking at phones. My own had finally begun to work, and an alert buzzed across the screen.

“All civilians located in the Manhattan area are to comply with NYPD and National Guard members. Please take shelter immediately.”

    I remember being very fucking confused. Had the Russians finally done it? The Chinese? Was red dawn actually fucking happening? Am I gonna get nuked? A myriad of thoughts raced through my head, but none were close to what was actually happening. I looked up around me, the Empire State Building stood to my east, with a massive chunk seemingly vanished from it. I stood in stunned silence. Someone bumped into me, and I nearly fell over.

    “Hey, buddy, the fuck is….your….oh my god….”

    He was now looking up at the skyscraper as well. I thought we were going to see a second 9/11, but what was actually happening was far worse. The sound of gunshots began to ring out from seemingly everywhere. Then screaming, roaring, and other noises I still can’t put my finger on. I scrambled up to my feet, stowing my cell phone away and getting a look at my surroundings. A nearby city block was just gone, and in its place a number of primitive looking tents on grassland. Emerging from the tents, looking as confused as the people beside me were orcs. Straight up orcs. Green skin, tusks, big bodies and all.

    It didn’t take long for them to start drawing crude looking weapons and start charging. Some people drew handguns, but there weren’t many. I wasn’t armed, wasn’t old enough for the armed security licence and now that was really biting me in the ass. I booked it away from everything. I ran and didn’t think to look back. The sound of gunshots was gradually replaced with yelling and screaming, and I could only assume it took quite a lot of 9mm to put an orc down. More than their handguns had in their magazines.

    My legs burned, and my chest did as well as I tried to breathe steadily as I ran. I wasn’t the most athletic person, and that was showing as I began to slow to a jog, then walking, then I stopped, collapsing on the sidewalk as I caught my breath. Other people streamed past me, no one looking at me, trying to help, but I couldn’t and don’t now blame them. I got to my feet, my legs shaking, and I looked to the street just in time to see a National Guard Humvee barrel down the street in the opposite direction. The M2HB was trained ahead, the gunner talking into a radio. When they turned the block, I heard the .50 caliber HMG firing in bursts, and the guttural cries of the orcs it was presumably cutting through.

    That fire came with the sudden realization I was far too close to whatever frontline then I was equipped to be, and I started running again. To stay was suicide, and I wasn’t going out like this. What seemed like hours passed, though in reality it was more like minutes, and I reached a checkpoint. Dozens of people milled about behind a chain link fence, guarded by National Guardsmen and a few police officers. I walked up to it, hands raised above my head, and they ushered me past. The hushed conversations I heard past the fence were disheartening to say the least. Central park had almost entirely been “replaced” with a thick forest. No one knew what was inside, and national guard troops sent in weren’t coming out. Orcs and Goblins were overrunning hastily created roadblocks with numbers and sheer physical resilience. Shit was going south fast.

    There was a sudden scream, and a woman pointed up. What looked like a fucking dragon swooped overhead, followed by a pair of F-16s. The roar of aircraft mounted autocannons was heard, and a shower of brass fell down. The soldiers and police yelled at people to get to cover, though I was one step ahead of them, having ducked behind a Striker. A few people were hit by the spent rounds, and were suffering bleeding, one even lying unconscious, but it seemed no one was dead. A hand came down on my shoulder, which caused me to duck a bit and drive my elbow into the chest of a Police officer. A few guardsmen looked over, and I turned to see the man looking down at me. Fortunately he had remembered to wear a vest with armor plating in it, so the elbow didn’t do much.

    “Hey, Kid, are you alright? Where are your parents?”

    I looked back, and pointed eastwards.

    “Back in Suffolk county. I was going to be starting a job here, but….well I don’t really need to say anything, do I?”

    The officer nodded. I was more worried about being arrested or shot or some shit, but I guess my reflexive elbow wasn’t really warranting precedence over the massive, citywide shitshow that was going on. I spent the next few hours roaming the “secured” area, consisting of only about 4 and a half city blocks. No one I asked had any clue as to what was happening, though one person said it had a similarity to the first episode of that JSDF wank-anime GATE.

    By 2 pm, a soldier got on a loudspeaker, and started to arrange the crowds. Apparently there was a plan to begin evacuating people via airlift. I was all too happy to hear about that, seeing as the roads were probably too dangerous and the same vanishing trick that had scooped out the sides of taller buildings might have also cut into the tunnels and bridges connecting Manhattan island to the rest of New York. I was fortunate enough to be grouped in with the first wave of people to be evacuated, and one of the buildings had a helipad on the roof. Thus, myself and a group of others began our ascent up the skyscraper. The roof was the 102nd floor, and luckily the elevators were still functional. As we got onto the roof, I began hearing the distinct sound of M2 fire. The Guardsmen escorting us to the now landing Blackhawk transport helicopter became a bit more frantic after their radios crackled to life, and someone yelled into them, the voice sometimes cutting out due to the sound of gunfire.

    That was a bad sign already, but at this point it didn’t much matter. I grabbed the arm of a Guardswoman as she pulled me onto the Helicopter, then sat down. I fumbled with the seat buckles a bit before they finally locked in place. A few minutes later, the rotors begin starting up, and I’m handed a pair of earphones.

    “Here, the chopper get’s pretty loud. You’re gonna want these.”

    It was that Guardswoman from earlier. She sat off to the side, and buckled herself in. The helicopter lifted off shortly after. I could vaguely hear the gunfire from below, and I asked the person next to the door if they could see what was happening.

    “It looks like there’s 50 or 60 green guys trying to attack the military. I think they’re losing though.”

    It wasn’t much of a description, but it was something at least. I looked around me, at the interior of the transport. Helicopters like the blackhawk could hold about 11 people in them, and it looked like we were over capacity. 6 soldiers and 8 people crammed into the thing. I doubted we could actually get much altitude.

    The Helicopter was cresting over the waterfront when something odd began happening. A faint purple glow emanated from nearly every surface, and not a second later, the afternoon sun was replaced with the dark of night. Nearly everyone started to scream when the rotors suddenly cut out. Some debris cut a shallow, but bloody gash on my forehead, and I looked over just in time to see a man get sucked out of the Helicopter. I didn’t get a chance to do much before something hit me in the head, and brought me into the sweet embrace of unconsciousness. Sweeter than pants shitting terror at the least.

Chapter 2: The New World

    And now we come back to the present. I’m in a crashed Blackhawk, and I have a knife. I get to work cutting at the straps of the seatbelt. Thankfully the belt isn’t that resistant to bayonets, and I’m freed after only a little application of elbow grease. With that out of the way I take stock of the current situation. There are no other civilians in the crashed helicopter, just the 4 dead National Guardsmen, and after a second of checking, one of the pilots. With nothing I can do for them, I start the time honored tradition of looting the dead so that the survivor can live. I’m shocked to find their rifles and even ammunition still strapped to them and in pouches, and after about 10 or 20 minutes, I’ve gotten myself a solid collection of equipment. Out of all of it I choose to take the least messy gear, netting me a helmet, plate carrier, Webbing, a rucksack with some gear inside, and an M4A1 Carbine.

    As for ammunition, I find about 18 magazines in total, all filled with 5.56. Not my personal first choice, but at this point I literally cannot complain. It's either the M4 or nothing at all, and I’d rather not get butchered by orcs if there are any around. As I begin putting the equipment on, I realize my phone is still in my pocket. I take it out only to find the thing is still intact, and still with 89% charge. Of course, there’s no reception whatsoever, so I decide to shut the thing off, and stow it in my new backpack for the time being. Might find some use for it later besides looking at old pictures and shitty memes. With the gear on, helmet adjusted to my head, and rifle loaded and placed on safe, I look at my surroundings. To the east, grasslands. To the West, woods. To the north and south are only the border where the two intersect. I begin to notice a swath of annihilated trees, and realize the crash was worse than I had initially thought.

    Then there were the bodies. I felt guilty having to leave them behind, but there was nothing I could do. With the small E-Tool strapped to the ruck it would take me hours I didn’t have to bury them all. The least I could do was close their eyes and head off. The thought of taking one of their BDUs occurred, but the likelihood that one would fit wasn’t worth literally stealing the clothes off the back of a dead man who had helped to save my ass. Thus, taking my chances, and keeping tabs on the Camelback, 4 canteens, and several MREs I had grabbed, I walked to the east. The Grasslands looked like they led to some taller hills, and getting a height advantage was ideal. I didn’t have an encyclopedia’s worth of outdoor survival knowledge, but I knew the basics and then some.

    The hills were a lot farther then I had thought, taking about 2-ish hours to get to the top. I was fortunate enough not to have encountered anything other than some birds and squirrels. I at the very least had those earphones still, and they fit under the helmet by the Grace of god himself. Or maybe the /k/ube. The thought of the fictional deity made me chuckle a bit, after all this, the first joke I can think of is from fucking /k/ of all places. The hilltop, as I assumed, did provide a good vantage point to look out over the surrounding countryside. To my east now was a small, but obviously traveled path. Walking along it seemed like the best way to get to some form of civilization. Thoughts of forigen disease, different languages and the possibility of the inhabitants of whatever place I find not even being human lanced through my thought process.

Inevitably, I’d have to rely on luck for all that, and if luck wasn’t on my side, then fuck it, I’d wing it from there. Looking back and forth on the road, I couldn’t see any obvious signs of people or structures, so I’d just have to pick a direction and walk. All I had on were a cheap pair of “military style” boots, so they’d just have to do. Fortunately I had remembered to put gel inserts in them this morning, so my feet wouldn’t be hurting the whole time, or so I hoped.

About 10 minutes into the walk north, my body began to ease off the adrenaline, and suddenly a wave of fucking everything hit me. Fatigue, hunger, pants shitting terror, the works. Another 20 minutes burned, and I was feeling better. I had shat off to the side of the road, used MRE toilet paper to clean myself, and was now eating some of the snack bread that was included in the MRE. All and all, not the worst I had ever had to do, but my situation wasn’t improving at all. I was burning daylight, and I could absolutely not stop until I reached some form of civilization. The risk of death by sleeping exposed to nature and the elements was far too high in my mind to ever consider it.

With all that out of the way, I began to walk. I walked and walked for hours, and this time I knew it was hours because I could see the sun move from the east to midday then slightly to the west. The scenery reminded me of my time in central Pennsylvania when I was going to college there. Then a wave of emotions started to hit me all at once. Anger that I wasn’t able to do shit to improve my situation other than walking, sadness at not being able to even give the guys on the Blackhawk a proper burial, and utter crushing depression when I realized I might have just gotten Isekai’d out of my home universe never to return. Instead of doing what my mind was telling me to do, which was go into the fetal position and cry, or what my body wanted to do, keep going; I compromised by bawling my eyes out while walking.

    While not the proudest moment in my life, it sure as fuck helped the situation that I kept on walking. As it turned out, stopping for just a few minutes would have set me back a while, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Nearly 4 more hours passed, if my predictions were right, before I reached some form of civilization, that being a caravan of people off in the distance, approaching my direction. My heart nearly skipped a beat, and I almost cheered like a fucking autist when I saw them, I was so fucking happy. However, then those thoughts of being a stranger in an alien land came back, and the joy was replaced with caution and pragmatism. They could be slavers of some kind, or just not even speak a language close to my own. One was far worse of course, but both would likely lead to me not being able to get any information or sense of direction. In any case, the safety was flicked onto Semi, and I soldiered on ahead to meet them.

Luck smiled upon me this day, and I met up with them about 10 minutes after I saw them. They seemed to be merchants, their caravan loaded with some nicer looking jewelry, clothing, along with more basic goods. I knew this because they were picking up the contents of a container that had spilt over. I approached with my hands in the air, and one of the people who seemed to be a guard approached. I was the first to speak.

    “Hello, I mean to cause no trouble, I’m just very lost. Is there any chance you fellows might be willing to assist a fellow traveler?”

    To my utter shock, and relief, the approaching man spoke back in near perfect english. Most he had was a vaguely anglospheric accent.

“Aye, I might, so long as you can answer me a question, traveler. What’s all that odd gear you have on? So many pouches in dyed cloth.”

    I breathed a bit easier after that. Somehow, by some fluke of fate they spoke my language. I was, however, hesitant to answer that question. If I told the truth I’d look fucking insane. I needed to bullshit my way out of this. Putting my knowledge of LARP, D&D and other medieval fantasies together, I formulated something, and with everything to lose and gain, I went for it.

    “I am Steele, of Blakhawke. This equipment I have in my possession was not originally my own. I found it. There have been odd occurrences in this area, and I had found an odd metal structure with several dead men inside. I myself was without much protection, and so I removed from the men what I could without defiling their corpses.”

    I silently prayed to every God back on earth that he’d accept that, but “Steele of Blakhawke?” Seriously? That was the best I could come up with? Regardless, my fate was no longer in my hands, but in the mans. He eyed me up and down, looking over my gear and myself. Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, he extended a hand.

    “Well met then, Steele. My name is Geoffry, and this caravan is under my charge. You don’t look to be the typical brigande, and you certainly don’t sound like one. You’re welcome to join us on our travel so long as you can help us with a few things.”

    I smiled, and shook his hand, giving a firm grip to the handshake. I was brought back to the wagon, which heavily resembled a large Conestoga wagon. However, despite advanced wagon design, not a single firearm other than my own was to be seen. That put a slight damper on my mood. Would have been cool for this place to be some kind of Medieval society with western era technology. Regardless of that, I sat in the back of the wagon, saying hello to the few people who already were and introducing myself, again, as Steele of Blakhawke.

    The racial makeup of those inside may have shocked someone with no idea of anything fantasy related. There was a Dwarf; a blacksmith by the name of Grimm, a few humans by the names of Awan, Hewar and Ansel, and a single elf by the name of Ellarian. She was a bit more hesitant of me then the others, but then again I probably looked like shit. Thinking that, I pulled off my helmet, and sat on it before digging around in my pack. Pulling out my phone, I used it’s screen as a mirror, to confirm that yes, I did in fact look like utter shit.

    “S-Steele, was it? What is that thing?”


    I looked over to Ellarian, who was giving the phone a quizzical look. I simply shrugged.

    “Well, it’s not something you’d understand, but for now I’m just using it as a mirror. I’m not exactly looking my best today.”

    I muttered under my breath about God Damn orcs and dragons, which she heard. Damn those knifepoint ears.

    “Orcs? You’ve fought orcs?”

    I looked back at her, shaking my head.


    “Nah, at the time I saw them, I had no weapons to speak of, unlike now.”


    I hefted my M4 a bit, the attached bayonet glinting a bit in the evening sun. She gave it a glance, and now satisfied with my answers, went back to her own thing, which seemed to be leatherworking. She was using a small metal tool to punch holes in the strip of leather she had with her, and I watched her work on it for some time. It seemed monotonous and repetitive, but that kind of thing was just what my mind apparently needed before I fell asleep.

    My dreams were not kind to me. I saw my own world burning, overrun with monstrous races and beasts. People killed or kept as slaves, and all I could do was watch. The dreams then shifted a bit, and I saw my family. Nothing more, just their appearance, but it was more than enough to jolt me awake. The sun was just about to rise over the horizon, and I shook myself out of a bit of a stupor. Most of the others were sleeping, asides from Grimm, who was glancing at my rifle.

    “You want to look at it?”

    I ask him, removing the magazine and ejecting the chambered round. The dwarf nodded, and I handed it over to him.


    He took it, and looked the piece over. I warned him not to try and dismantle it, or else I’d have nothing to use for defense. He gave a curious glance at the mention of defending myself with it, but I told him I’d show him what I meant another time. He seemed satisfied with that, and after a few minutes handed the rifle back. I slipped the safety back to safe before sliding and tapping the magazine into place.

    “You were tossing and turning in ‘yer sleep lad. Everything alright?”

    I looked back over to him and nodded.

    “Yeah, just some dreams. Those Orcs I was talking about were attacking the city I was in before I found myself here. I don’t know how things turned out, and it’s a bit...oh shit.”

    I looked out the back of the wagon, only to spy the hill I had gone on top of to even see this road. Thinking quickly, I jumped out of the back, and ran to the wagon driver. I explained the situation over there, and after a bit of convincing, we pulled off to the side of the road. A short while later, I was leading two of the guards, as well as Grimm, Awan, Hewar and Ansel over to the wreck of the blackhawk, all of us with some form of digging implement.

    Two hours passed, and with the sun rising over the hills, the 7 of us stood over the graves of Corporal Numan, Privates Sanches and Markson, Airman Harvey and Sargent Kemp. I had taken their tags, as well as some things I had missed in my hurry to find civilization. 3 more M4s, an M16A2, and a Beretta M9, along with ammunition for the hand gun, and some cleaning kits, along with anything else that was lying around. One of the men even had NODs, which I eagerly attached to my helmet. Over the graves, I thanked them for their gear, and hoped that they knew they gave their lives for a good reason, even if they had no control over it. The others muttered prayers to their gods, and I did similarly. To God and the /k/ube, I wished their souls rested in peace, and that they were in better places then this.

    We all departed, myself now with even more equipment then I came with, and with more peace of mind. I felt a lot better, and I fumbled with the collected tags. Hopefully, If I ever found the others from the crash, I’d be able to give them at least the tags.

    We all eventually make our way to the wagon, and in short time we start making our way down the road again. I spend my time in the rear, getting to familiarize myself with the M16/M4 rifles I now had. With the added 2 other rifles, I was able to learn without much risk of leaving myself totally defenseless. The trip was long and boring, though several times I was asked to help guard the caravan. A few of the other guards were curious about the rifle, and I let them take a look at it, however the thing never left my hands while I walked alongside the wagon.

    Eventually, smoke was on the horizon. Pale, gray smoke, which reminded me of the firepit I had back home. Oh boy, here they come, those feelings again. I excused myself to the rear of the wagon, and tried not to break down again. I wasn’t having these people see me like that. I tried to take my mind off of things by humming “Who Can It Be Now”  by men at work, and it did the trick for a while. That’s when I heard rustling behind us. The grass was fairly tall, but someone was making their way out of them.

    The guy was some kind of bandit. He just radiated the vibe of “I’m gonna cut your throat and steal your shit.” I turned to face him, and an odd sort of staring contest began. I slowly flicked the M4 in my hands to Semi, and he slowly raised the club in his hand, and before long, he and two others off to his side rushed out of the grass to try and take me down.

    The first one, the club guy, didn’t get five steps before I shot him. I panicked, and jerked the trigger several times, three of the shots impacting him in the chest. His eyes went wide as he was knocked flat on his ass, and I could see him draw his last breath. The other two stopped, hell the entire wagon convoy stopped what they were doing to see what the fuck had made a noise like thunder five times in a row. I had killed a man. The first of, what I would assume, would be many more.

    The only reason I thought nothing of gunning the guy down was that he would by no means going to grant me any sort of mercy should I hesitate. It was me or him, the simplest of situations. The other two began to creep forward, and I wasted no time in shouldering the rifle and placing a few more rounds their way. Their armor did absolutely fuckall against the 5.56 rounds that impacted them, and they died almost instantly. One took a round to the forehead, and his eyes rolled back as he fell, blood oozing out from the hole I had punched in the skin and bone.

    I just stood there, watching the grass with my eyes wide open. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins. I saw one of the corpses twitch, his muscles merely spasming, and in an adrenaline fueled fit, I sprint over, plunging the bayonet into the already dead man’s heart. Only after twisting and pulling the blade out do I realize he’s already dead. And the people in the wagon are staring. I stare back.

“He moved. I needed to be sure.”

    I cleared my throat, and after wiping the blood off the bayonet, I make my way back. Geoffry nods approvingly at my handling of the situation, leaving nothing to chance. I feel kind of sick. In fact, I walk over to the tall grass and vomit into it. Oh well, I needed to eat the rest of that MRE anyway. I was shaking a bit as well. It wasn’t from the fact I had killed three guys, not at all. They would have killed me if I didn’t, but the adrenaline was just so fucking much that I was having a hard time actually handling it.

    “Steele, you should go sit down. You’re shivering like a man with no clothes on in a blizzard.”

    I nod back to Geoffry, and after placing my rifle on safe I follow the orders. Climbing into the wagon, the Three humans and Grimm all pat me on the back. Ellarian looked a bit more concerned, but I assured her I was fine. She was still hesitant, but relented after a while.

    “So that’s why you’re so careful with the thing Lad, I’m not surprised when that thing can do something like that to a man.”


    I nodded.

    “You think the holes are bad? The exit wounds on those guys probably look like they exploded.”

    The Dwarf scoffed.


    “What kind of wars would produce a weapon like that?”

    I shrugged. I didn’t want to give away too much information after all. After the guards looted the bodies of the slain bandits, one walked over, and handed me three sacks.

    “Their coin purses. You handled them, only right they went to you.”

    I gave my thanks, and began looking at what my spoils had gotten me as the wagon began moving once again. Several dozen Copper, as well as some Silver coins of varying shape and size stared back at me. Some were sturdy, stout and angular, others thinner and ornate. If my guesses were correct those would be Dwarven and Elven coinage. Others seemed to be that of likely different human kingdoms. It likely wasn’t much, but it was something. And he’d need something when they got into town in a few minutes.

Chapter 3: The Oni and the /k/ommando

    We got into town after a short time. By then, I had stopped shaking and I needed to use the bathroom. When the wagon stopped, I immediately asked for where an outhouse was. Only place I was pointed to was a small building on the outskirts of the village. With a bit of toilet paper left, I did what I needed to. Returning to the wagon, I assisted in the unloading of supplies, and after a few hours of helping to carry containers and chests to a market area near the center of the town, I was let go.

    “I wish you Godsspeed Steele, until we meet again.

    I turned around to Geoffry holding out his hand, and I shook it. He and his people had been good to me, a total stranger from a place alien to them with. We exchanged a few final words, and I left them. I’d likely buy some supplies from them in the morning, but for now I needed to find a public house or Inn, if any such existed. The town itself, as I was told, was a minor hub of trade, which netted it a decent amount of money from the local lord to keep up maintenance and a rotating temporary population. There was, as I had expected, an inn, a medium sized building about the size of my own house back home. The sign on the building was completely illegible to me, though underneath the text was an armored man on horseback. The name likely had something to do with knights or Men at arms, and wanting to get out of the dusk, I walked inside.

    The Innkeep looked up from cleaning the bartop, and nodded to me.

    “Welcome to the Wandering Knight Inn traveler. If you need anything, let me or one of the bar wenches know.

    I gave him a nod in return, and looked around. The patrons were a motley bunch; some men in peasants clothing, likely locals. Others seemed a bit more armored and were obviously armed with spears, swords and other hand weapons. Either they were levied guards, militia or adventurers if this place was more in line with Dungeons and Dragons or some shit. One of them caught my eye. A large figure sat near the bar, downing a large mug of some unidentifiable drink. The most defining feature I could see was their horns. Two, medium length reddish horns which protruded from the forehead. It was then I noticed the person was likely female, with long silvery white hair, and a generally feminine figure which was incredibly muscular. I did my best to not stand there and stare like a fucking idiot.

    I took a seat at a small table with two chairs, and sat back. After spending a long fucking time reflecting on my actions over the past day. I had done a lot, more than most would experience in their entire lives. Was I gonna be traumatized by this? I sure hoped not.

    “Well well, someone who looks more out of place then I do. That’s a first.”


    I turn to look at whoever just spoke, and come face to face with a Lamellar Chestpiece. Looking up, I saw the red skin, horns and white hair of the woman, no, the Oni who had been sitting nearby.

    “Yeah, must be, I guess.”

    She smiled, and pulled out the seat across from me. I could hear the chair struggle under the weight of her and her armor. It was Lamellar, appearing in the style of some mix of Chinese, Korean and Mongolian forms of the stuff. I gave her a quizzical look, before speaking up.

    “So Miss, you want something or are you just here to gawk at the stranger with strange equipment?”

    She gave a hearty chuckle, obviously amused by my forwardness. Truth be told however, my apparent confidence was a sham. I was, in all honesty, nervous and more than a bit scared. She was easily 7 foot even, maybe a bit more if you count the horns, and what musculature I could see was easily comparable to female bodybuilders back home. However, unlike them, with his Oni there was a bit more femininity to her. Though with that being said she still looked like she could break my neck with two fingers.

    “Call me Yumi. And as for your question, a little bit of both. Like I said, it’s not often we get strangers different enough to give me pause. So what’s your story? And where are you from to have things like that? I’ve been to nearly every kingdom in the world, and I’ve never seen things like what you’re wearing.”

    Well shit, There goes a myriad of options to bullshit an excuse. I take a deep breath, and close my eyes. Someone like her could probably tell a lie from the truth easily, so at this point the only option I had was to tell the truth. Only question is, how am I going to do that and not sound certifiably insane. I clap my hands together, which gets her attention, and I begin.

    “Are you at all aware of the thought that there are more than just one plane of existence?”

    Much to my surprise, she nods.

    “Yeah, I kinda know about that wizardy shit. You’re saying that you’re not from here, if you catch what I’m getting at.”

    I also nod. It appears that this place might be a bit more accepting of the truth of my predicament then I first thought. Well, at least people with a bit of knowledge anyway.

    “Exactly. Back where I’m from, well, I’m guessing parts of this place were swapped with my own. Almost like someone scooped out entire swaths of landscape and replaced them with their counterparts here. You wouldn’t believe the fucking day I’ve had.”

    She cocks an eyebrow. Now I’ve got her attention. Hell, maybe she’ll help me out if she feels a bit of sympathy. That’s a big IF though, I have no idea what kind of person she is in all reality.

    “Really now? Go ahead. I’ve seen some odd things in my time.”

    Well, she’s literally asking for it, might as well give her the rundown.

    “Well, it all started yesterday. I was going to start a job, got lost, then orcs showed up.”

    “That’s it? Orcs?”

    I hold up a finger, pausing any further interruption.

    “There are only humans where I’m from. Orcs are a pretty big fuckin’ shock to just have roaming the streets of a major city. Then they started killing pretty much anyone nearby. The military got involved, I get the hell out, then me and about...I think about 15 other people, half of those being soldiers get sent here. I still have no idea how. The thing we were in, well, something went wrong with it, and people died. That was the first time I had ever seen someone die. Poor guy got flung out of the craft at a few hundred feet in the air...God I don’t want to have to think about that.”

    She listens intently, not interrupting any further until the end.

    “Hey, I get it. I still don’t like thinking about the first person I saw die. You seem like a good kid, shame all that stuff had to happen to you.”


    I sigh. She was being genuinely pretty nice, hell, that seemed to be the trend with people I was meeting. Sure I looked odd, but they were still treating me like a person. Back home that wouldn’t be the case, I’d just get looks and talk behind my back. Of course, the paranoid lizard part of my brain was telling me this was all a trick to get me in a vulnerable state so she could steal my shit/kill me/both.

    “Yeah. Then today I killed people for the first time.”

    She looked a bit stunned at me just dropping that so casually.

    “Wait, after all that you killed people? Who?”

    “Relax, they were bandits or some shit. Whoever they were doesn’t really matter. They came at me and the wagon I was protecting, and so I shot them dead. It was me or them, because God knows I was their first target. Christ, I’ll be lucky if I come out of this with only minor emotional trauma.”

    She looked a bit confused at the mention of me shooting them.

    “Well, here, let me get you something. After all that you sound like you could use it, and you’ve been good company for the time being.”

    She gets the attention of one of the server girls, an elf with a sizable bust. I could imagine why she was hired. After a few minutes in awkward silence, the two of us not really knowing what to say, the elf returned with two mugs of drink. Hers wasn’t the same and mine, and I gave my drink a sniff. It smelled of spices and honey. Mead. I knew enough about alcohol to recognize the drink. It was also a really old drink, so the time period had also helped to narrow shit down. It looked fairly watered down, which was good. I couldn’t hold down my alcohol for shit.

    I took a hesitant sip, the taste was slightly fruity. Not bad, but it was pretty obviously watered down. Whether that was to scam people out of money or just because there wasn’t enough for a full drink was up for debate, but for now I just enjoyed the free booze. Fuck the drinking age, I wanted to feel better about the shit hand I’d been delt this week. I looked back at Yumi and she’d probably downed the whole fucking mug in less then a minute. I was reminded that I should never challenge an Oni to a drinking contest.

    “So, anything else you wanna know? I’m probably gonna get a room and sleep for...3 days. Yeah. 3 Days.”


    “Maybe in the morning. Gods know I have nothing else to do for the week. I hope you decide to stick around Naedenburg. This place is nice compared to most of the other shitholes I’ve stayed in.”

    I nod, and get up to talk to the Innkeep. A room was going to cost me 5 of the human copper pieces, or 3 Dwarven ones. More if I used the elven money. Seeing as most of what I had was human, I paid 10 copper to cover tonight, tomorrow night and the following day. Two whole days in total, so I had a bit of time before I had to worry about not having a place to sleep. Yumi waved me back over once I turned around, and I complied, having all my affairs so far in order.

    “Hey, I never got your name. Mind telling me before you go to sleep?”

    “Oh, shit yeah. I’m-”

    Within the nanosecond after saying I’m, I had to make a very important decision. Do I use my real name, or the one I made up? Both have merits and flaws. If I used my real name, then anyone looking for me would have an easier time locating me, which could be good or bad. Also anyone who knew me could possibly use that against me. Using the fake name, I was a blank slate. Anyone who wanted to look for me by my actual name would find it hard to do so. But at the same time, no one would be able to find me. Ultimately, I eventually decided. And I hoped it was the right call.


    “-Steele. Steele of Blakhawke.”

    I held out my hand for her to shake, and she gripped it firmly and shook. Even as firm as her grip was, I was under no false impression that this was a fraction of her actual strength. I departed to the room that I’d been given the key too, and after locking the door behind me, stripping down to my underwear, and arranging my things in a semi-organized manner, I collapsed onto the bed, and fell asleep.

    The dreams I had this time were a bit more...odd. I don’t remember much from them, but what I did somewhat concerned me. One of them was of the /k/ube. Well, one of them was on the /k/ube, to be more specific. That was about as much as I could remember before I, again, jolted awake. I was left with the feeling that my dreams were fucking with me, and that there was some sort of significance behind the one I just had. However, it was also just a dream, and my dreams had been pretty fucking weird lately.

    After getting up, I see to changing back into my clothes. They were starting to smell, but there really wasn’t much I could do about that at the moment. Soap was likely very expensive and rare, so that was out of the picture. Could always just rinse the clothes out and deal with whatever leftover smell remained. I groaned, and bit the bullet, putting on the bare essentials of clothing. My shirt, pants, socks and boots were soon all on me, and I stepped out of my room. I then walked right back inside because I forgot the damn coin purse which had all the money in it.

    Making my way down the stairs, the inn looks a bit more lively, with more people inside than yesterday. Yumi was nowhere to be seen, which was slightly disappointing. She was rather nice, if not slightly intimidating. Walking over to the bar, I strike up a conversation with the innkeep, discussing the local area and what to avoid. There were some more obvious things, like avoiding areas with taller grass, as the local bands of looters and brigands liked to ambush from those areas. Some of the advice was more obscure, like not trusting a few merchants because they always price gouged.

    Thanking the man, I head out into town. /k/ube knows I can’t read for shit, but I could still price haggle. I didn’t know, however, if their numerals were different. If they weren’t, price listings would be far easier to handle. The town as a whole was pretty large now that I looked around, with tall wooden walls around the area. With the place bordering the forests of the west, I could imagine the walls were made of what logs were chopped to clear land for the town itself.

    The market area of the place was in the dead center of town, and I had been here the previous day helping the fellows in the wagon. They weren’t around yet, though the sun was only just now cresting over the walls. The scenery was tranquil and a complete 180 from the last time I had been in any sort of population center. No cars, no cellphones, no advertisements, just people living in the moment...and me sounding like a fucking boomer. Absolutely wonderful. Still, it was nice to be surrounded by normal people and not have the air reak of garbage and exhaust. Chamber Pots seemed to not be a thing here, and I was infinitely grateful of that fact.

    Wondering the open stalls and shops, I start humming an old favorite to myself.

    “...never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye…”


    I silently sang to myself. I was having a better time than I had been having in the past week, so this short peace was enough for me to celebrate with. What would I do to celebrate a whole 24 hours alive in Isekai land? Shopping! Clothes shopping that was. It’d likely take hours though, with clothes not being sold in a uniform size and shit like that, not to mention the absence of mechanical sewing equipment. I’d be lucky if the clothing was done within the day. Still, it would be something to keep my comfy, well made old world clothes from getting absolutely wrecked by the rigors of this place.

    After a bit of asking around, I locate the store of a tailor, and walking in I’m met with a Dwarf of all things.

    “Eh? Oh, welcome. What can I do ye for?”

    The gruff sounding and old looking dwarf waits patiently at his countertop for me to respond, and I do so in turn.

    “Yeah, I wanted to ask about having some clothing made, and how much that’s gonna run me.”

    The dwarf motioned for me to follow him, and he opened up a part of the countertop for me to walk in through. After unlocking the door which was behind him, I’m brought to a rear room. There were a few other people there, all waiting on measurements. One of which caught my eye being none other than the far bustier than I had thought Red Oni, Yumi. She wasn’t in her armor, which did a stellar job at hiding most of her torso’s physical features. Now that she was in more “normal” clothes, that being a top which barely fit her physique, and pants that were far too large. I could see why she was here. When she noticed me, she left her spot on the other side of the room to come over to me, and she beamed at me with teeth far whiter than I felt anyone in a time period like this had any business having.

    “Steele! Buddy, how was last night for you?”

    One of the other patrons of the shop looked away, a bit flustered at the poor wording Yumi had used. I felt a slight blush come on as I waved back at her.

    “Fine, slept alright. You gotta work on your wording though.”

    She stopped a few feet away from me, a confused look on her face.

    “The hells do you mean by...ohhhhh. Oh I get it. Yeah, I probably should have said something else. Eh, it’s in the past now. How are you doing?”

    I gave a chuckle. At least she knew how she fucked up.

    “Eh, I could be better. Still can’t read a single word of the language here. It’s a /k/ubesend that...wait, no. It’s a Godsend that our language is apparently identical. Before you ask why  I’m here, I only have what I’m wearing now.”

    She nods understandingly, and sits down next to me. God damn she had nice thighs. Shit, I’m getting sidetracked. Banishing the horny thoughts in my mind, because the last thing I wanted to do was have any kind of thoughts clouding my judgment on whatever was to come next. Yumi elbows me a bit, and smirks.

    “So say I did ask for you to, you know. What’d ya say?”

    She was obviously trying to get a reaction out of me, and I would give no satisfaction.

    “So I’m gonna guess you’re ‘ere for similar reasons to mine?”

    She’s taken aback a bit, which was a bit of a surprise to me, but still.

    “Well, yeah. My top has to get replaced totally, but my pants can be hemmed.”

    Just then a dwarf, a different one, calls her in. She gets up and leaves. Thus, I’m left on my own for the time being. Some of the other people inside the room give me odd looks. I expected this, not just because an Oni was being really chummy with me, but also the clothes. They were not anything like what was common in the approximate time period. I didn’t pay them any mind, they were just mostly freemen, idiot freemen with little to no education.

    An hour passed, and Yumi had come back about 15 minutes after she was called in. We had been talking about a bunch of things, ranging from Onis in general to my M4, to what we liked to do. I couldn’t really say much seeing as I had to explain a lot about Earth. Like, way too fucking much for my likings. Eventually I was called in for measurements, and unlike Yumi it took me far less time to get measured properly. The dwarves used some really interesting machine to accomplish the task, some kinda magic tape measure that displayed the increments in the air in front of me. After only 5 minutes, we started talking materials, color, and cost. It’d run me some silver pieces, but overall the price of 6 Dwarven Silver pieces seemed like a fair deal, and we shook on it.

    Emerging from the room a few coins shorter, but soon to be a few outfits more plentiful. Yumi was waiting outside for me, and when I walked out, she put an arm around me, putting her hand on my shoulder. I could feel the raw strength radiating off of her, and if I didn’t know she was pretty friendly, this would be terrifying.

    “Well? How’d it go? You took less time then I did.”

    “Pretty well. I have like, 3 sets of clothing being made...oh shit, I won’t have any other pairs of underwear.”

    My mortified gaze ahead at nothing was countered by her own look of confusion.

    “What do you mean?”

    I glance back at her, a bit concerned.

    “Do you not wear anything under your pants?”

    “Of course I do, I’m not a dirty peasant.”

    She glances around to make sure none of the aforementioned dirty serfs were around to hear her. None were, and she went back to her more relaxed demeanor, flashing a toothy grin at me.

    “So, why are you so worried? I thought humans didn’t re-wait. This is other world shit, isn’t it?”

    I nod. Well, I was probably fucked on the underwear front. Maybe with any luck a truck filled with Hanes briefs got teleported here and I’ll never have to worry about that. Heh, like I’d be that fucking lucky. Though it was kind of depressing to hear that humans had some form of plumbing but no damn underwear, at last as far as Yumi knew.

    “Well, I’m gonna go take a look around. I’ll see you I guess.”

    Yumi chuckled a bit, and pulled me in a bit closer.

    “What, and let you walk around aimlessly alone? No way Steele. Let me show you around, It’ll be fun!”

    I was getting the feeling she had a purpose beyond just being friendly, but for now I just went along. No need to give any inclination I might be onto her, if that was indeed what was going on.

    “I guess that isn’t the worst idea I’ve heard all week. Aight, let’s go.”


    Satisfied with my answer, she led me off on a brief, but still lengthy tour of Naedenburg. The town was divided into 3 outer districts, those being those for the Peasants, Commoners and the Wealthy, with varying shops and services located inside each. However, the main draw of the town was the central merchant district. Yumi explained that the merchant district here was fairly large, and more for non-locals than just merchants. The “Wandering Knight” was just barely not inside, that being due to its founding before the town became as large and prosperous as it would become. It was true the inn played host to many foreigners to the town, but it was a known watering hole for dozens of locals who could call themselves regulars.

    By the time we actually made it back to the inn, it was about 6 in the evening, though that was based completely on an arbitrary knowledge of the sun’s position through the day. In reality it was likely far later in the evening. I was starving, having not eaten much anything throughout the day. Unfortunately for me, food would be taking a back seat, as a crowd surrounded the entrance to the Inn. I looked up at Yumi looking for some kind of answer, but she only shrugged.

    It was a single passing remark that got my blood pumping through; one of the crowd mentioned seeing whoever was in the inn wearing odd clothes. Was I not alone here? Were there others from earth that got stuck here? I began pushing my way through the crowd to get in, in spite of the grumbling from those I shoved past. With Yumi close behind me, I finally get a chance to enter the Inn. Guarding the door were a few of what I had assumed were adventurers, likely being compensated for their work now with free something.

    After telling them I was staying there, and with one of them recognizing me, as well as the 7 foot Oni behind me, I was allowed inside. There were a few tables lined up, covered in cloth. The sight of blood and bandages met my gaze as I looked at the makeshift hospital that had been assembled. The people too were not what I was now used to. They were mostly civilians from earth, several with missing limbs, deep cuts, and dozens of other savage wounds. Helping them was what seemed to be an odd mix of Earth medical personnel, all of them EMS, and what seemed to be priests or clerics if the robes were anything to go by.

    “...the hell happened here?”

Chapter 4: And then there were more

    Not a second passed before I began looking around for someone, anyone who looked like they were in charge. All I saw though were civilians and first responder medical personnel. No one looked like they were in charge, but I was getting all sorts of looks. Granted, I assumed I would, afterall I myself was a civilian in semi-formal wear and military gear strapped all around my body.

    “Hey, you, w-where did you come from?”

    I turn around, looking at some guy. He was sitting against a wall, with what was left of an arm bandaged off, and likely cauterized seeing as there was no bleeding I could obviously see. Yumi stood off to the side, not wanting to get involved apparently.

    I paid the man little mind, and I pulled one of the seemingly unoccupied medical people aside.

    “Hey, what the hell’s going on? Where did you all come from?”

    The man looked startled, but after looking me over, and seeing that I wasn’t one of the locals, he sighed, and began to fill me in on what was going on. They had all been outside an overflowing NYC hospital when they were displaced. All the injuries were sustained before their transport to wherever the hell we were. What remained of their makeshift ICU was outside the town’s walls. I cursed slightly under my breath, and asked if there was anything I could do to help. As much as I was looking out for myself, I had no reason to not assist these people. They were humans from earth, hell, my home state. That was something at least.

    Apparently the most I could do was help clean materials. I didn’t have a lot of actual medical knowledge, so I did expect this sort of thing. Washing out bloody bandages, taking scalpels to the fireplace to sterilize them, all that kind of stuff. Yumi watched me from a table, lotta help she was being, then again, the EMS people likely didn’t trust her. I sure as hell wouldn’t in their situation. As tedious as the work was, this all started to jog my memory on what first aid techniques I did know. When they finally ran out of antiseptic, I managed to help negotiate the use of the Inn’s supply of stronger alcohol, the stuff that wasn’t mixed with flavoring and the like. God knows that might just leave the wounds worse off then they were.

    After a solid hour, the priests seemed to have burned through everything they had, and departed. Those they worked on seemed to be better off then the people the medics were helping, but when you have magic wound healing, even modern medicine can pale in comparison. By the time everyone was tended to, it was late into the night. I’d been so busy I never realized how fast the time passed, and I felt exhausted. Yumi had left to do something, I guessed, and that only left me with about 30 people from earth to talk to. At least that was the plan before the Innkeep offered to pay me to help clean the place up so he could let customers in. Money was money, and I wasn’t about to turn down anything. A few others joined in, and within two hours, we had gotten the place as clean as possible without using cleaning chemicals this place didn’t have. Oh well, a few more bloodstains wouldn’t hurt the look of the place.

    I collapsed into bed; at this point I couldn’t care less about the others, I just needed sleep. Fortunately, it was a dreamless rest, and I woke up with the sun’s rays just barely peeking through the window of the room. I got up and looked myself over. There was quite a bit of dried blood left on my hands I hadn’t realized was there. I made a mental note to go scrub my hands off at the earliest opportunity. With the rest of my things checked and their integrity assured, I made my way down the stairs.

    I was met with only a fraction of those from yesterday. After a round of mutual questioning I found out that most of them had returned to the camp to rest, as they didn’t have anything they could use to barter for rooms like the few remaining did. At the very least those that had left had the protection of the town guard, or so I imagined. Yumi was nowhere to be seen still, and once again I was on my own. I grumbled about that for a bit, then after paying for some rather filling breakfast, I left my temporary home for the outside of the town.

    The scene in front of me by the time I got to the camp was straight out of a fucking UN refugee camp. Plastic tents and tarps everywhere, the kind that people used for tailgating parties or catering. It seemed like it worked, but the shantytown aesthetic was strong with this. The most interesting part of this all was the parking lot asphalt that abruptly cut into the grassland surrounding the exterior of the town. It just looked so odd, alien even in comparison with the wooden palisade behind it.

    I walk in, and I’m met with the gazes of two dozen people. Most of them are either EMS or wounded. I nodded to the few people I had personally helped, and received a few nods in return. Walking over to one of the medics, I finally ask the question that was probably on everyone’s mind.

    “What are you all going to do now?”


    I didn’t get a straight answer, and it looked like I had just brought group morale down a further peg. It made me feel shitty, but if there was some kind of plan, I would have liked to know. I sighed, and sat on an unoccupied folding chair.

    “I don’t mean to sound rude, but just who are you? You did just show up with that big red woman yesterday without much explanation.”

    I looked back at the man, and shrugged.

    “Sorry about that. I was just...It’s been a rough day and a half since I got here, not to mention what happened back hom- What did happen? You guys got here a full day after this shit went down.”

    I catch myself before I delve into a rabbit hole of questions. I take a deep breath before answering the guys only question.

    “Well, I guess I’m going by Steele now, but my name’s actually John. I didn’t, well, I still don’t want to use my actual name in case someone I don’t want to find me wants to try.”

    The man sits down across from me, eyeing the scabbed over gash in my forehead.

    “So, Mr. Steele, do you mind if I look at that cut on your head?”

    I push any hair covering it away, and motion for him to do just that. He takes his time, looking it over, asking if I had any other injuries. After telling him about the thing that knocked me out, he immediately shifted gears to check for a concussion. Fortunately, it appeared that wasn’t going to be a problem, however what was an issue was what looked to be a slight infection in the cut on my forehead.

    That discovery made me panic a bit, but luck was again on my side as it seemed, and I was handed a small bottle of antibiotics.

    “Looks like we caught it early, just take those for the next week. Should do the trick.”


    I immediately reached for my coin, and before he could protest I handed him a gold piece. Something like that could at least get the group food and drink for a few days at least, hopefully until some of them could go off and find work. I didn’t know though. They could end up splitting up, and being fucking retards who end up dead or indebted because not a single person here knew how to read the local language. This was likely not going to end well for any of them, and there wasn’t much I could do about that. I departed, wishing them good luck, and I returned to the town. There was only so much I was willing to do for others at the moment, and charity wasn’t something I could afford. Overpaying for a rare commodity with the rest hopefully going to help the others was one thing, but giving away money without any compensation wasn’t going to happen.

    I returned to the Wandering Knight feeling a bit worse than I did before. The oni was sitting at a table with all her armor on. The Lamellar really did do a good job of hiding nearly all her figure. All of it was hidden behind the interlocking steel plates and cord that made up the outer layer of the armor. To her side was a large shield, easily a tower shield to someone of my height, and very unstereotypical for an oni, resting on the shield was not a Kanabo, but a large Bar mace. The thing had little in the way of ornate design, looking quite plain next to the ornateish design on the shield. I walked over, and sat across from Yumi, and she gave me a smile. For once, she wasn’t the one initiating anything.

    “Steele, how’ve you been? Hey, you aren’t doing anything right? You wanna help me out with something?”


    I glance up at her with a curious expression. It might be nice to get a distraction from all the earth orientated shit and live in the now. I nod, and motion for her to continue.

    “Great, I asked around and apparently there’s a clan of bandits in an old fortress from the Kusite wars a few centuries back. Should be easy for someone like me, but I’m just one person, you know?”


    I nod, getting the gist of what Yumi was getting across. She had a job she wanted to do, and apparently trusted me enough to help her with it. I was about to just flat out agree, but then the subject of splitting the reward came up.

    “What’s the pay and how are we going to split it? A full on clan of bandits has to be a fair number of ‘em, right?”

    She smiled again, and rested a hand on the table.

    “Pay up front was a single gold piece, reward for actually doing the job is three more, and whatever we can find. It’s the local lord putting out the bounty, so they can afford to pay people like us a pretty coin to do the job. How does 50/50 sound?”

    That’s what I expected, and what I more or less was fine with. We shake on the percentage split, and she sends me off to get my things ready. If we left now, we’d make it to the fort by tomorrow evening. Thus, I gathered my things. All 18 spare magazines, plus the partially full mag I already had in the magwell of the M4 were strapped in on various points on my body. In total I had about 552 rounds left, and I quickly realized that much would weigh me down far too much. In the end, I decided on bringing only around 8 spares, leaving me 252 total rounds to use as I saw fit. It was almost half my total round count, and at the moment I had no way of resupplying, so I’d have to make all my shots count.

    After getting a full camelback’s worth of pre-boiled water from the innkeep, I return to Yumi’s table. She gets up, and we start off on this newest of adventures. I was still a bit hesitant at first, but after leaving town, glancing at the small camp of earthside humans, and continuing onwards, I began to feel a bit more confident.

    With a day’s travel ahead of us, me and Yumi got to a lot of talking. There were plenty of topics to choose from, but we decided on the basics. Friendly as we were, we didn’t know much about one another aside from general mannerisms and physical appearance. I started off by telling her a brief summary of how I got to this point, going to school, doing well, getting to college and finding out I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life until eventually deciding a career in private security was a good idea. The rest of that was history by this point.

    While I had a decent time explaining much of the modern aspects of my own past to her, Yumi’s own past was what I was really itching to find out about.

    “So yeah, that’s why I think I decided to become a recluse and cut all my classes when I first got to college. How about you now? I’ve been talking for hours about myself, I’d be nice to know about where you’re from and all.”

    And with that, Yumi began on her life story. She was in her early 20’s, apparently even here women didn’t talk about their age, and she was from some nebulous area to the east. Over there, Oni Clans were a bit more common, and better known then in the west where we were.  Being a Red Oni, her father had taken to teaching her the martial path from an early age, and she took to it in stride. By age 15 she was already a part of her clan’s warriors, and about 6 feet tall. When she did leave for the west, she did so because she felt she really wasn’t needed. Respected as she was, Yumi wasn’t doing much aside from guard duty. The area her people had settled in was protected by natural mountain formations, and there was little threat they had ever faced. Thus, after making up her mind, she left and hasn’t looked back since.

    “Not that I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving, you know. They figured it was gonna happen eventually. At least it made things easier on my family and all. Still care about them, I just wanted to take my own path in life. Nothing against ‘em.”

    And there it was. Talking about family. My homesickness returned to me in full force, and I started tearing up out of nowhere. That took Yumi by surprise, and her face went from a confident smirk to concern. I eventually ended up curling into a ball and refusing to come out. I honestly felt bad about my inability to control myself, but I think Yumi understood. She sat next to me, and placed a hand on my shoulder, every so often saying a few reassuring words. It helped, if I’m being honest, that she was larger than me. Something about her stature and actually giving a shit about what was going on with me was really doing it for me as far as calming myself down went.

    In a few minutes we were sitting under a tree, me wiping the last few tears from my eyes, chuckling at how /k/ube damn embarrassing this all was. She patted me on the head, and helped me up.

    “Could be worse Steele, that could have happened out in the market square.”

    I shuddered at the thought, which made Yumi burst out laughing, and I elbowed her in the side. Didn’t do much, and it still wouldn’t have even without the armor. That only made her laugh harder, and pull me into a side hug. She was at the very least careful not to crush me against her, don’t think she’d have let herself live it down if she hurt me like that.

    I muttered under my breath, and resigned myself to being pinned to Yumi’s side for the time being. It didn’t take long from that point for the sun to begin to set, and with that we set up camp. Well, Yumi set up camp, I just stood around with my thumb up my ass waiting for her to tell me how I could help her. With her getting the tent all ready for her, or the both of us, couldn’t figure out how big the tent really was; I decided to go off and get firewood.

    With the E-Tool strapped to my ruck now in hand, and the Baretta strapped to a holster on my hip, I set out. I never strayed too far from the camp, always keeping it in my limited sight range. To go further would be to risk getting lost, and I refused to die because I took a wrong turn and ended up deep in the forest. I sawed away at some dry looking branches, and after a few minutes got enough for a decent sized fire. However, it was in the dying light of the evening that I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. A small green limb darted behind a tree, and it set me on edge. Wasn’t an orc, that was certain, way too small. I kept my eyes and ears peeled for anything else, and slowly made my way back to the camp, where Yumi was already making a pit to start the fire.

    “Think we have company.”

    She looked up at me, and gave me a confused look. I rolled my eyes, and put the firewood in my hands on the ground besides her.

    “Are goblins a thing in this area? Because I think I saw one out there. Stay alert.”

    The confused look turned to one of disgust. Obviously I was onto something with the warning.

    “Great, just what we fucking needed. Disgusting little bastards…”

    She went into the tent, and retrieved her Bar mace, then handed me my M4. By the barrel. I cringed a bit but took it.

    “What can I expect from the little shits?”

    She scoffed a bit, almost insulted I even asked, then mellowed out when she remembered I’m the alien here.

    “Right, different world. Sorry. They’re barely even intelligent, but they make up for that by being crafty bastards, and absolute degenerates. They’re worse than orcs. At least greenskins try to keep their prisoners healthy for ransom. Goblins just…they just main and rape for the hells of it.”

    She shudders a bit, I’d ask if it was a personal thing if this was the right time, which it wasn’t. Night closed rapidly on us, and after figuring out how to use the NODs on my helmet, I took first watch while Yumi got a fire going. It might fuck with the optics, but hell, it was better for her to watch my back if she could see.

Chapter 5: Greenskins and Brigands

    For hours there was nothing, aside from the occasional varmint moving amongst the brush and trees. I almost fell asleep several times had it not been for the paranoia I’d been fostering since I saw the goblin. A guitar would have been the perfect fit for tonight; I knew how to play decently, and I could probably get a nice bit of music going by this point. Yumi was sleeping in the tent, and my NODs were running low on battery, and as I was replacing it, I heard mumbling in some language I couldn’t understand.

    The M4’s safe was flicked on to Auto, and I hurriedly place the new batteries into the goggles. When they’re back over my eyes, and turned on, I see at least four goblins. They stared at the tent from their position, and I wasted absolutely no time in picking a target, and firing. The gunfire caught them off guard, and by the time the last round of the burst left the barrel, two goblins were lying on the ground, bleeding out. The other two screamed something out, and at least a dozen appeared from the forest, running at me.

    “Alright fuckers! Let’s go!”

    Truth be told, I’m fucking terrified in spite of what my words might imply. The last thing I want to happen is be tortured and killed by a bunch of fucking midget greenskins, and so a magdumping commences. By the time Yumi bursts out of the tent, mace in hand and screaming in some other language I can’t understand, about five of the things are lying dead.

    “Yumi! Reloading! Cover my ass, now!”

    Yumi gives me a very confused look, but she shakes her head, and bashes a goblin in the torso with her Bar mace, bisecting it. By now, the remaining nine were having second thoughts on attacking the fucking massive oni and the man with the thunder stick. I pushed the bolt release and the 1st round of the fresh magazine slides into the receiver. Immediately I point the weapon towards the nearest greenskin, and place a hole where it’s heart should be.

    The diminutive creature drops it’s spear, and clutches it’s chest, before falling over. Yumi’s already busy chasing down a gobbo, crushing it with a downward strike. One of the things tries to come up behind her, but I don’t give it a second to do anything before It takes two shots to the back. The rest begin to fall back, and I take more shots at the fleeing crowd of Goblins. Three more go down, and after that, the rest are too far into the bush for any accurate fire. Can’t waste any more rounds on potshots.

    I look over the bodies of the slain goblins, the bisected one had crawled for a bit before dying, and the sight wasn’t pretty. I poke one of the dying with the bayonet on the end of the M4A1 when Yumi walks over to me.

    “You alright Steele? Any of the shitstains get you? They cover their weapons in shit to cause infections you know.”

    After wiping the small spatters of blood off the knife, I look up at her. From the crouching position I was in, she towered over me, her face nearly totally eclipsed by her...well, her breasts. She was in her sleepwear, which apparently was a loose fitting under tunic and pants.

    “Nah, they never got close. That’s the advantage of superior firepower and the knowledge to use it!”

    I chuckle a bit, and stand up. It didn’t look like the things had anything on them, so looting would net absolutely nothing. A damn fucking shame really, wasted a whole magazine and then some for nothing. Well, I suppose nothing and my continued survival. Yumi was absolutely beaming, and she patted me on the back.

    “Look at you! I don’t know what you did, but you must have killed half the little pieces of shit, hell maybe more!”

    The excitement in her eyes was like my dad when I won a wrestling tournament back in elementary school. She seemed proud of me for...something. Pulling my own weight? Killing gobbos? Protecting her when she was going to be backstabbed? I didn’t know, but now my thoughts were again directed to home, and I slumped down to my knees.

    Yumi could immediately tell something was wrong with me, but what specifically she couldn’t tell. I knew this because she Immediately asked.

    “Steele? Hey, buddy, what’s wrong? Did you get hurt? Come on, don’t fuck around like this, Steele?”

    I can only assume my non response was worrying, because by the time I snapped out of the funk I found myself in, I was laying down on a fairly large bedroll. Yumi’s bedroll. My face was streaked with what was left of some tears. I wipe off my face, reach around for something to blow my nose with, and as I do so, Yumi comes back in. Seeing me actually move around and not presumably crying my eyes out for the fifth time in the week made her smile.

    I could still see concern in her eyes, but that wasn’t a bad thing by any means. For me anyway. I cleared my throat and spoke up first.

    “Sorry about that...I...It’s just….Nevermind, it’s nothing. I’m fine.”

    She kneels down next to me, though with her height and frame she still towered over me by quite a lot. It was ever so slightly intimidating, and would have been more so if she didn’t put a hand on my shoulder.

    “Hey, it’s alright if you wanna talk about something. I know a lot of adventurers who’ve frozen up or had nightmares after battles.”

    Oh, she thinks I have PTSD. Great.

    “What? No, nonononononono, it’s not fucking PTSD. I’m just homesick. Like, really homesick….do you even know what I mean by that?”

    And now the look turned from concern to confusion. I sigh, and wave her off.

    “It’s nothing Yumi. I just miss home. That’s all.”

    “You miss it enough to cry over it?”

    She rubs my shoulder, again trying to reassure me that everything’s fine, and I let out a breath I’d been holding to calm my nerves.

    “Yeah, pretty much. I need a drink…”

    I get up, and start looking around for my hydration pack, forgetting it’s still on my back. Yumi, on the other hand, misinterpreted what I meant, and reaches for a relatively small flask with what looks to be runes of some kind. She holds it out to me, offering.

    “I meant...you know what, fuck it. I could use that kinda drink too.”

    She places the flask in my hand, and goes off outside to do something. I never asked, nor did I check. Instead, I uncorked the thing, and gave it a sniff. It was definitely some kind of liquor, maybe bourbon? Nah, but it was some sort of Whiskey.

    Deciding to just drink now and think over any and all poor life decisions later, I take a swig, and swallow it down almost as quickly as it enters my mouth. It had a strong taste, though with Whiskey I didn’t know exactly what else to expect aside from that.

    I thought back to the first time I had tried whiskey; Jack Daniel’s to be specific. My grandfather had given me a shot full at a party we were at, and I downed the thing in one go. I also remembered hating the taste. Now was different. I was older, in a new place, and right now, the pleasant burn of the drink in my stomach was distracting me from going back to thoughts of home and the depressing feelings that followed.

    By the time Yumi came back in, I had taken my fifth or sixth swig of booze, and it was pretty damn obvious.

    “Steele. Buddy, how much of that did you drink?”

    I looked over to her, fumbling to get the cork back in. I manage it, eventually, and hand it back, doing my best in my half-drunken stupor to not fall over. I can hear her sigh heavily.

    “Maybe….fou-no. Noooo, maybe six?”

    I can hear her mutter something in what sounds vaguely like japanese, though my knowledge of the language was close to nothing. She then leads me over to the bed roll, and gets me to lay down. I vainly attempt to get back up, but even drunk, the expression she gives me causes me to stop acting like a fucking toddler.

    The next few minutes are kind of a total blank, and I find myself waking up the next morning. Yumi’s arm is around me, but she’s face first on the roll, still passed out. I try to get out of the bedroll, but there’s no way I’m going to be able to get up with her arm still on me. I sigh, and consign myself to this until she moves her arm, or wakes up.

    Fortunately, she eventually turns over in her sleep, allowing me to slip out of the bedroll without getting pulled back inside by Yumi. Off goes whatever the hell I crawled into last night, and on goes the ACU. I cursed my luck that what I had was in the Useless couch pattern, but...actually no. Nothing would be better then UCP. At the very least the M4 was being a dependable workhorse for me.

    After looking through my magazines, I find I still have a grand total of a little under 17 full magazines of ammunition. There’s one empty magazine sitting on the assault pack, and I start debating what to do with the thing. It’s more or less dead weight, seeing as there’s likely no way I’m getting more ammunition for this thing, though I could get very, very lucky and find more somewhere. Ultimately, deciding the light weight of the STANAG magazine wasn’t worth worrying about, I tuck it into a side pouch of the bag.

    Taking a look next at the plate carrier, the thing was still nearly mint, though there was a stain of blood on it from the goblin attack last night. Hopefully it’d come out, hopefully. I gave it a hesitant sniff, and all I got in return was the faint coppery scent of blood, nothing more. Thus, on went the only bit of armor I had.

    By the time I started tying my boot laces, Yumi was finally waking up. The only warning I got was a yawn, which caused me to jump a bit at the sudden and loud noise.

    “Gods, how long was I out?”
    I glance back at her, an eyebrow raised.

    “You’d be the one to know. You didn’t get piss drunk last night. Now come on, we got shit to do and places to be. Get your gear Yumi.”

    She raises an eyebrow back, and smirks at my attitude, then signs, and gets up. Apparently she didn’t wear much to bed, though at least she wasn’t nude. Like I had just done, she began to look over and don her own armor and equipment. In spite of late-teenage hormones telling me to oggle her as she put on the armor, I had far more important things to do than be staring at Oni women.

    The rifle was fieldstripped to the best of my ability, and examined for damages or dirt. Aside from a few particles that came right out, the thing was in good shape. A few more hours passed, and the campsite had been packed up, and hefted onto Yumi’s back. We hit the road once more, passing the time with idle conversation. Fortunately, when it came to the area of small talk, we apparently had a lot of things to draw on.

    Namely that was details about where we were from. Yumi, as she had said, was from the east. Far east. She had initially cut her teeth in the local skirmishes and wars of wherever her homeland was as a mercenary auxiliary, though as time passed, she ended up taking jobs that sent her further and further west, crossing an ocean and eventually ending up here. She also told me something that I found very, very odd.

    That happened to be that out of every kingdom and nation she had been, this place was one of the very few to have any humans in it, let alone a whole kingdom or two of them. Back where she was from, the only races aside from her own were what I knew as tieflings and elves. That came as a bit of a shock to me, but I didn’t let it show. I had expected this place to be a bit more in line with other fantasy worlds like in fiction back home, but I was wrong.

“So, remind me again, we’re looking for some kinda fort overran by brigands and shit, right?”
She nods, and hefts her mace onto her shoulder. The brutal, simplistic design of the weapon lends itself well, as I had seen what the thing was capable of. While goblins were one thing, men in armor were another. Still, even if I had full plate armor on, I wouldn’t want to be hit by a pissed off Oni with a Mace. At that point, I doubt even the armor could protect against that much force in such a small area of impact.

“Yeah, ancient thing. Been around for more than a millenia if the local legends are true, and I’m inclined to believe them.”

    I nod back, and heft my own gear onto my back. Taking down the tent took us another hour or so to get it all packed up and ready. After that, the sun was at about, from what I could tell, the angle it should be at for 10 am back home. This was good, as we should get there by sundown. Such a thought reminded me to switch out the batteries in my NODs, which I do. I was in God’s good graces to have taken several whole packs of AA batteries back during the second pass by the Black Hawk.

The trek down the earthen path was, as always it seemed, long arduous and boring. Just the two of us getting to know each other better through chatting, occasionally passing folk in wagons or on horseback. Damn, getting horses would have been a great idea. Well, maybe not for Yumi, but still. Regardless of my feelings on the matter of transportation, I got feet in my boots, and fantasies about getting horses weren’t helping me now, so we walked.

We could see the fort on a hill in the distance several hours later, but we were also still hours away. I got the feeling we were being watched, which Yumi apparently also shared. Whether it was brigands from the fort waiting for us to pause in our venture, or scouts eyeing us up for someone further down the road to spring a trap for, or just more fucking greenskins we didn’t know. The one thing we did know was to not drop our guards for a second now. Even one moment of perceived respite could end in an arrow or bolt to the neck, and death soon after. This especially nagged on my mind, as unlike my Oni companion, I didn’t have a helmet that covered most of my neck like she did.

Faced with little other option than to just deal with it and continue, we ventured onwards, the fort ever present on the horizon. I made sure a round was chambered, and Yumi glanced over at the metallic noise the rifle made. There was brass there, so I closed the bolt, and kept my finger near the safety selector just in case. The tension was already mounting, and my heart was pounding with anticipation as we neared the fortifications on the hill.

Sundown. We were just a scant mile away with no information on hostile numbers, composition, layout of the area, and a distinct feeling they already knew we were coming. However, what we had might outweigh that. Superior weapons and a fucking walking tank with a big ass shield netted us some points in our favor. I uttered silent prayers as we approached from the side. One to God, and on a whim, one to the /k/ube. I took a deep breath in, held it, then let it back out. With a swift motion, I lowered the goggles, and took a look onto the battlements. I had eyes on at least 4 people walking along the length of wall. Going in this way might not be bad, the front certainly wasn’t a good idea after all. I layed down, and readied my rifle, taking aim slightly ahead of one of the patrolling brigands. After taking in another deep breath, I slowly let it out, make sure my optics are where I want them to be, and gently squeeze the trigger.

The bullet strikes true on my target before the sound reaches them. The reaction to one seeing another’s skull nearly pop was very visible, and they began to frantically look for where the shot came from. Yumi was busy covering her ears, but that’s on her for standing right next to me. She kind of gets the idea, and moves down the hill a bit, far enough where the sound of the shots won’t give her tinnitus.

I begin to line up another shot, and this time it’s much easier. The poor bastards are looking out through the battlements, perfect targets. Aligning my shot, I take aim, and breathe in once more, and let it out slowly as the trigger is squeezed. The metal helmet the man was wearing does just about fuck all as I see it dent into his skull. He slumps over, and falls down at least 20 feet to the ground, his corpse rolling down the hill. There’s more shouting, and I see many others begin to pop out from the stone battlements, the fucking retards. The process repeats itself; breathe in, slow exhale, squeeze, repeat. Not every shot makes its mark, and I’m slow on reacquisition, so only about 4 or 5 die before they wisen up and take cover.

Yumi comes back over as I motion for her to come back up.

    “Wanna do something super fucking stupid?”

    She looks unconvinced already. Wonderful. Well done Steele, well done.

“Look, just shout for them to come down here and fight you, or else you’ll use more magic to pick them off one by one.”

She puts her forehead in her hand.

“That’s probably not going to work you know.”

    I sigh.

“Maybe so, but it’s fucking something.”

    She mutters something, probably about how much of an idiot I am, which is completely warranted, and walks out.

    “HEY! COME OUT AND FACE ME UNLESS YOU WANT TO DIE COWARDS DEATHS!”

There is a stillness, then a light goes up on the wall. A torch most likely. It’s thrown down from the walls, no where near us. We can hear distant talking, likely them discussing what to do. Eventually, we hear noises, and from off to the side I can see at least 15 fucking men, in cobbled together sets of armor with second hand weapons and third hand shields approaching the torchlight.

    “Oh those poor, poor idiots.”

    My muttering is lost to the winds, which begin to cause the fallen torch to flicker and sputter out. One of the men begins to light one they have on their person, but by that time I already have my rifle aimed in their direction. The rhythmic pulse of recoil impacting my shoulder brings me into a kind of trance as I begin to send rounds down range, several impacting the men, causing them to cry out in a second of agony before falling to the ground, dying or dead. I squeeze the trigger until I hear the click of an empty chamber. Dropping the magazine, I reach for another, my hand quickly finding purchase and with an upward motion, I dislodge the mag from it’s pouch. It slots into the magazine well nicely, and I tap the bolt release which sends the bolt home. By this point, the bandits have seen my muzzle flash, and they’ve already begun to move my way. Yumi begins to flank them, slamming into the side of their piecemeal formation. The men are taken by surprise, as one in shitty chainmail is hit right in the gut with the Oni’s mace. I can see the blood he vomits up, and it’s not a nice thing to see.

 Putting that out of my mind for now, I take aim, and pop off more shots at the bandits. Others come rushing out to assist their comrades, unaware that I’m in the perfect position to pick them off. Yumi can handle 8 men no problem, but the 20 others coming our way? Those I’ll have to deal with.

Deal with them I do, and by the time they make it to Yumi, 5 are left, though I’ve run out of ammunition again. Cursing, I begin to load another magazine, and tap the bolt catch to send it home. Raising my rifle again, I’m made aware of 5 more bandits, likely the last, flanking me. Yumi likely can’t see them, though she’s butchered the rest of those that came to her. I let the ones flanking me do so, the less they know the better. I turn their direction and wait. Less rounds spent is better after all. As they crest the hilltop, I call out to them.

    “Took you boys long enough, now let’s get to business!”

    They charge, and I fire. The first drops with several rounds in his gut, the second when a bullet passes through his throat. The third raises a shield, only to find that wood and Iron are not bulletproof, the fourth is hit in the leg, and drops down to catch a round in the skull, and the fifth actually makes it to me. This was not planned for, but I can improvise. He slashes at me with a dagger, which I manage to sidestep. The vision advantage is mine with my NODs, and I’m making damn sure to use it. He lunges in my general direction, missing me by a hair; far too close for my comfort, and I place a bullet in his sternum, before following up with the bayonet. It sinks into his exposed throat, and he chokes and sputters before dropping. I quickly pull the knife out of his body, and watch as he crumples to the ground. Not his lucky day.

Yumi comes back towards me, she has a wide smile plastered on her face. Obviously she’s very pleased with herself. I give her a thumbs up that I don’t know If she can see or not, and walk down towards her.

    “Bad-fuckin’-ass Yumi. Bad-fuckin’-ass. Let’s head inside before they close the gates.”

    She pauses, and nods, probably not sure if I can see.

    “Right, let’s go.”

    We head on inside, and it’s dead fucking quiet. Nothing and no one around. The first thing I do hear is a dripping noise, which ends up being blood from someone on the walls dripping to the stones below. An hour of searching later, and we don’t find anyone else. We do, however, find their rooms, which net us several pouches worth of coin. Nothing too much, mostly silvers and coppers likely. However, the real value was in their hold of loot. Oh, oh the loot! They must have raided several dozen caravans worth of stuff, and it was all in one large room. Something specific among the chests and cloths and pelts calls out to me. Something, from its position on a pile, must have been new. It was a hauberk of Brigandine, enough to cover my chest, likely able to fit under my plate carrier.

Lifting the chestpiece, I’m shocked with just how light it is. I feel around to make sure there were actually steel plates inside, and lo and behold, there were. Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, I make sure to stick the thing in my pack before anything else. A majority of the things we couldn’t take with us, and would have to be left behind. Again, horses would have been nice, but oh well.

    Though a majority was left, we could still haul a lot of things back. It was mostly goods like furs and clothing, but Yumi told me she knew some people who could take these off our hands for a good price. I was a bit confused by what she meant. This was a one off thing for now. When I brought this up, she just chuckled. This worried me, but not to an extent I felt that I’d need to plot an escape or anything. Just, good old fashioned worry.

With our pick of the spoils taken, two magazines or so down in ammunition, and at least 20 more pounds on my back, we set off down the trail once more. Getting actual gold from this would be a nice reward, but that’d take a while. After all, Yumi had told me, they had to come all the way out here to check the place out to make sure we actually did the job we’d said we did, then they had to come back. This wasn’t skyrim. They didn’t psychically know the job was done.

All in all, we were looking at another 3 days before our pay came in. With that in mind, I made sure we didn’t take our time heading back to the town. Still took us a day to get back though. When we finally made camp when the sun was now just peaking over the horizon as it set, the sky turning a purplish color and the stars coming out, something clicked. For some reason, I had never thought to look at the night sky.

I did, as Yumi set up the tent once more. I think she was going to get my attention to help her or something, but she never did. I was staring at the light-pollution less sky, at the galaxy that presented itself to me. There was not a single constellation that I recognized. Not one.  Eventually my attention turned from the skywatching back to the camp. Yumi had gotten a fire going, and was sitting close to me.

“Anything interesting up there?”